Federal Reservations

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WASHINGTON, D. C.: After Republicans forced the White House to drop its campaign to name heavyweight investment banker Felix Rohatyn to the Federal Reserve's number two spot, the Clinton Administration finds itself scrambling for an acceptable replacement. Chairman Alan Greenspan is expected to be reconfirmed in his job, but TIME's Adam Zagorin says President Clinton is fighting an uphill battle to fill the two open spots on the board with liberal economists who could counter Greenspan's fiscal conservatism. "It's unclear which Clinton nominees, if any, could pass muster with Al D'Amato and the Senate Banking Committee," says Zagorin. "Names in the air at the moment include Harvard economist Ben Stein and Princeton economist Peter Kenen." With Clinton's re-election chances looking better, the President may be content to put off a potentially difficult nomination fight until after the November elections. The danger for Democrats is that in doing so, Clinton would leave two prime economic-policy making positions as a prize for whoever wins the White House.