National Economic Council head Gary Cohn is one of the main reasons conservative commentator and economist Larry Kudlow is not getting a White House position, two sources close to the situation said.
“Cohn didn’t like Kudlow,” a source said of the former Goldman Sachs second lieutenant.
“Cohn wants to hold all the reins of power and doesn’t want competing opinions from the CEA [Council of Economic Advisers],” a second source said.
There were published reports in December that President Trump was close to choosing Kudlow, a former economist in the Reagan administration, to head the Council of Economic Advisers. Kudlow is now out of the running, sources said.
The White House on Wednesday said the head of the still-unfilled CEA will not be part of his Cabinet.
In past administrations, the CEA has provided presidents with outlooks on macro-economics, said the second source, adding, “When new economic numbers come out, they provide the president with an explanation.”
Now that responsibility will largely fall to Cohn, White House National Trade Council Head Peter Navarro, Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin and policy adviser Stephen Miller, sources said.
Kudlow declined comment; the White House did not return calls.
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