More than 400 economists and former White House policy advisers have publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump in an open letter released on Tuesday. This endorsement arrives as both Democrats and Republicans vie to present their candidates as the superior choice for managing the U.S. economy in the upcoming November election, amidst ongoing concerns over high living costs, which remain a top priority for voters according to national polls.
The letter outlines the stark contrast between the two candidates, framing the decision as a choice between “inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump” and “prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris.”
The majority of the 405 signatories are progressive economists, many of whom have previously served in Democratic administrations under Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton. Prominent signatories include Harvard economist Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama; Roger Altman, Evercore founder and former Deputy Treasury Secretary under Clinton; Penny Pritzker, former Commerce Secretary under Obama; former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alan Blinder; and former officials from regulatory bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CNN initially reported the endorsements.
Among the supporters, some, such as Biden’s former National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, have already been providing advice to the Harris campaign. Additionally, a few endorsers have experience working under Republican administrations, notably Sean O’Keefe, who was Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget in former President George W. Bush’s administration, and Phillip Braun, who served on Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The letter is expected to serve as a key talking point for Harris during her upcoming economy-focused speech on Wednesday, where she plans to introduce new policy initiatives. Despite some past criticisms of Harris’s proposals from supporters like Furman—who notably opposed her federal ban on “price gouging” in the food and grocery sectors—there remains broad agreement among the endorsing economists against Trump’s economic policies. Trump’s plans include extensive tariffs on imports, substantial corporate tax cuts, and presidential influence over Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.
Prior to President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race and endorse Harris, a substantial group of predominantly progressive and center-left economists had already signaled their opposition to Trump’s economic agenda and endorsed the Democratic ticket. This was highlighted when sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsed Biden’s candidacy on June 25, just two days before the significant debate that led Biden to cease his reelection campaign.
