Yahoo Finance Biden’s Fed picks pass key Senate committee
The Senate Banking Committee voted unanimously to advance Philip Jefferson's nomination as the next Federal Reserve vice chair to the full Senate.
The unanimous vote means Jefferson, a current Fed governor picked by President Joe Biden for the role, will likely face little opposition from all lawmakers.
The committee also advanced Fed board governor Lisa Cook, who was re-nominated for a full 14-year term, and Fed board nominee Adriana Kugler, who is a labor economist.
Jefferson's nomination advanced by a vote of 23-0, while nominations for Cook and Kugler both advanced by a vote of 13-10.
One Republican, Sen. Mike Rounds, crossed over party lines Wednesday to join Democrats in favor of Cook and Kugler. Those nominations now also head to the full Senate for consideration.
The votes come as the central bank continues to fight persistent inflation with high interest rates. Its next meeting to decide the direction of rates is July 26.
Since joining the Fed as a governor over a year ago, Jefferson has voted in favor of every rate hike as well as the breather the central bank took at its June policy meeting.
Jefferson has also reiterated Fed Chair Jay Powell’s view that inflation remains too high and still needs to come down further to the Fed’s 2% target.
Republican ranking member Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina supported Jefferson’s nomination but opposed the nominations of Cook and Kugler. In the past, he has criticized statements made by the nominees, questioning whether they could serve on a board that is supposedly to be independent and apolitical.
"Presidential nominees should inspire confidence, have a strong respect for the rule of law, and support policies that promote the American dream. I believe only one of the three Federal Reserve nominees before us today fits this mold," Scott said in a statement.
"If confirmed, I hope these nominees take their roles seriously, as our Federal Reserve Governors must remain apolitical for the good of the economy and country."
If confirmed by the Senate, Jefferson would become the second Black man to serve as Fed vice chair, replacing Lael Brainard, who left in February to become Biden's top economic adviser.
Kugler, a longtime labor economist who is on leave from Georgetown to serve as the United States' representative on the board of the World Bank, would become the first Hispanic American on the Fed's Board of Governors if confirmed.
Biden’s choice for Kugler came after Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, repeatedly pushed to have a Latino be chosen for the Fed for the first time in the central bank’s history.
Biden also renominated Fed Governor Lisa Cook to a full 14-year term after joining the board last May to fill an unexpired term that will end on Jan. 31, 2024.
All three would restore the Fed’s Board of Governors to full capacity.
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