Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has appointed Judy Shelton as a counselor to advise on currency policy, with a special emphasis on assessing financial conditions in China. Shelton was previously blocked by the Senate from joining the Federal Reserve due to her controversial economic views. Despite lacking a specific reputation as a China expert, she brings extensive experience analyzing countries' monetary and financial systems and their effects on exchange rates.

Shelton’s career includes writing the books "The Coming Soviet Crash" in 1989 and "Money Meltdown" in 1994, which advocate for a unified international monetary regime. She has held senior fellow positions at the Independent Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Shelton holds a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Utah and has specialized in studying internal financial conditions around the world throughout her career.

Her nomination to the Federal Reserve in 2019 was rejected by a bipartisan majority in the Senate, at least in part due to her skepticism about the Fed’s independence, her support for returning to a gold standard, and doubts about the necessity of a central bank. Shelton’s appointment to the Treasury comes amid significant turnover among senior officials under Bessent, who has seen seven Senate-confirmed departures by August 2026 and only one replacement so far.

Shelton joins David Zervos, a former chief market strategist at Jefferies, as another counselor appointed by Bessent, a role that does not require Senate confirmation. The hires signal a move to bring experienced but unconventional economists into advisory roles at Treasury, even as the department grapples with internal challenges and unsettled leadership dynamics.