[4] In July 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted his intent to nominate Waller and Judy Shelton to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

[8][9][10][11][12] After hearings in February 2020, the Senate Banking Committee voted 18–7 in July 2020 to advance Waller's Fed nomination.

[23] He worked closely with the St. Louis Federal Reserve bank's president, James B. Bullard, who was a vocal supporter of lower interest rates in 2019.

[6] Waller argued that the Fed should not raise rates at that time (in 2019), when inflation was low and private savings were high.

[28] In July 2022, Waller and Federal Reserve Board staff member Andrew Figura issued a paper claiming that the U.S. economy could enjoy a "soft landing," with the unemployment rate rising only 1 percentage point or less as inflation declined from the levels of the time closer to the Federal Reserve's target level.

[30] Waller has expressed skepticism about a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, saying that it is not clear what market failure in the U.S. payments system it would resolve.

[31] The following year, during The Clearing House Annual Conference 2024, he likened stablecoins to "synthetic" currency that could benefit the financial system by eliminating inefficiencies, but emphasized the need to address safety issues.