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Bessent names ex-Fed pick Judy Shelton Treasury currency adviser

Shelton, whose 2019 Federal Reserve nomination failed in the Senate, will counsel the Treasury secretary on currency policy with a focus on China’s financial conditions.

Motion Media News Staff

Oct 9, 2026

2 minutes

Close-up of Judy Shelton, a woman with shoulder-length dark hair and pearl earrings, speaking at a conference.

Photo: Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (source)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has appointed economist Judy Shelton as a counselor in his office, where she will advise him on currency policy "with a particular focus on evaluating financial conditions in China," the Treasury Department said on Friday, Oct. 9.

CNBC first reported the appointment Friday morning, before the department's statement was posted.

Background

Treasury described Shelton as an economist and author who works on international finance and currency questions. She previously represented the United States as a director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and chaired the National Endowment for Democracy, and she has testified before Congress on international financial relations, the department said.

Her most recent post was at the Independent Institute, which CNBC described as a free-market think tank, where she held a senior fellowship; before that she was a senior research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. Her books include "The Coming Soviet Crash" and "Money Meltdown," and her Ph.D. in business administration is from the University of Utah, according to the department.

"Throughout her career, she has specialized in analyzing the internal monetary and financial conditions of nations and their impact on exchange rates," Treasury said.

The 2019 Fed nomination

President Donald Trump nominated Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board in 2019, but the Senate did not confirm her. Every Democrat and a handful of Republicans opposed her, citing her positions on the central bank's independence, her backing of a return to the gold standard and her doubts about whether the U.S. needs a central bank at all, CNBC reported. CNBC also noted that she is not known as a China specialist.

The counselor post does not require Senate confirmation. Bessent recently gave the same title to David Zervos, formerly chief market strategist at Jefferies, according to CNBC.

Turnover at Treasury

The hire comes as several senior positions at the department sit empty. Seven Senate-confirmed officials had left Treasury through the end of August, and only one of those jobs had been filled, CNBC reported, citing a Wall Street Journal tally.

Last month, Trump ruled out moving Bessent to a proposed artificial intelligence leadership role, Quartz reported. "He's doing such a great job at Treasury, and that's where I want to keep him," Trump said in a Truth Social post then, according to Quartz.

What's next

Because the role needs no Senate vote, Shelton can start advising Bessent without a confirmation hearing. Treasury did not give a start date in its announcement.