1. White House Office · Minor
Appoint qualified heads of the NEC and Council of Economic Advisers
Printed page 39 1. White House Office
“It is therefore critically important to find people with the right qualifications to head both the NEC and the CEA.”
What has happened
- Done
Both councils have had confirmed or appointed heads for the whole window. Kevin A. Hassett has been Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council since the start, appearing in both annual personnel reports; the Council of Economic Advisers has had a Senate-confirmed chairman throughout, Stephen Miran from 2025-03-12 and Christopher Phelan from 2026-08-07 after Miran resigned. Dated to the first personnel report that shows both filled, which is the ask's checkable half. **Unassessed clause:** the Quote asks for "people with the right qualifications", which names a quality of a person, and this site does not assess an appointee's personal qualities (GLOSSARY.md, *Unassessed clause*). Done records that both councils have heads; it makes no claim about their qualifications.
- Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel, as of July 1, 2025
- U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 117 — confirmation of Stephen Miran as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
- U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 225 — confirmation of Christopher Phelan as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Researched 2026-08-27, in one search that covered all of Chapter 1’s White House staffing asks.
Both posts are filled, and the CEA chairmanship — the one that requires Senate confirmation — has been filled twice:
- NEC: Kevin A. Hassett, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council, in both the 2025 and 2026 personnel reports, with three deputy directors under him in 2026.
- CEA: Stephen Miran confirmed as Chairman 2025-03-12 (Senate Record Vote 117, 53–46); on his resignation, Christopher Phelan confirmed 2026-08-07 (Record Vote 225, 51–47).
The Quote’s condition is that the people be “of the right qualifications”, which is a judgment about individuals; this site records that the posts are filled and does not grade appointees.
Made explicit on review, 2026-09-06. Like #8, this item already applied the Unassessed clause rule before there was one; the Status note names the clause. The Status did not change.
- Action
- appoint
- Object
- Directors of the National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers
- ID
- 29