Joe Biden names additional members to National Economic Council

US President-Elect Joe Biden on Monday named additional members of the National Economic Council, rounding out his economic policymaking team with people his transition office said would help lift Americans out of the economic crisis caused by Covid-19.

David Kamin, an official in former President Barack Obama's White House, will be the NEC deputy director, and Bharat Ramamurti, a former top economic adviser to Senator Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign, will serve as NEC deputy director for Financial Reform and Consumer Protection, Biden's team said in a statement.

Joelle Gamble will be Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, it added.

"This is no time to build back the way things were before — this is the moment to build a new American economy that works for all," Biden said in the statement.

The appointments would help "lift all Americans out of the current economic crisis — and build a strong, inclusive, and more resilient economy for the future," the statement said.

Earlier in December, Biden named Brian Deese, who helped lead Obama's efforts to bail out the automotive industry and negotiate the Paris climate agreement, to lead the council, which coordinates the country's economic policymaking.

Biden, a Democrat, beat Republican President Donald Trump in November's election, in part by running on a platform to ease US economic inequality and reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels.

US congressional leaders reached agreement on Sunday on a $900 billion package to provide the first new aid in months to an economy and individuals battered by the surging coronavirus pandemic, the largest crisis facing Biden after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Outgoing US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC in an interview on Monday that he had spoken several times with Biden's nominee to replace him, former US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

"We are cooperating with the transition team, and I've had several direct sessions with her to tell her about many of the Treasury priorities and what needs to be done," said Mnuchin, who overlapped with Yellen during her last year on the Fed before Trump replaced her.