Senate Republicans quit playing nice and refused to attend a crucial committee vote on President Biden’s nominees to the Federal Reserve over serious concerns about one of the candidates. This boycott delayed the confirmation of all five picks, including Chairman Jerome Powell, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Republicans had indicated earlier that they wouldn't attend the Senate Banking Committee because of their concerns with Sarah Bloom Raskin. nominated to serve as vice chairwoman for bank supervision.
Those concerns that Republicans had included the fact that Ms. Raskin harshly criticized the Treasury Department and Fed for providing broad-based emergency-lending backstops to assist businesses during the pandemic. She wanted those backstops to stay away from lending to highly indebted fossil-fuel companies.
According to the WSJ, "her nomination followed aggressive lobbying by progressive Democrats, including many climate-focused policy activists who frequently cited Ms. Raskin’s recent public remarks calling for federal regulators to use their administrative powers to pursue stiffer curbs on climate change."
“Until basic questions have been adequately addressed, I do not think the committee should proceed with a vote on Ms. Raskin,” said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the committee’s highest-ranking Republican.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) accused Republicans of slowing down the Fed's ability to curb inflation. “Republicans have walked out on the American people,” Mr. Brown said Tuesday at a hearing room without any Republicans present.
“We’re not going to let them cherry-pick [and] say, ‘Oh, we’ll vote yes or no on these three nominees, but we’re not going to even vote on these other two,’ ” he said.
Many have accused Mr. Brown of hypocrisy since he was one of several Democrats who boycotted a Senate Finance Committee vote on two nominations made by then-President Donald Trump.
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Al K. Scott
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