Four confirmations of Federal Reserve Board members will be before the Senate as early as Tuesday, following successful parliamentary action to pry one of the nominees out of committee earlier in the day.
The Senate voted 50-49 Tuesday to discharge (or release) the nomination of economist Lisa DeNell Cook from the Senate Banking Committee, after the committee earlier tied in a vote (11-11) on whether to recommend her confirmation to the full Senate. The committee vote was strictly along party lines.
In addition to Cook’s nomination, the Senate also has before it those of: Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell as chair (for a four-year term); Lael Brainard as vice chair (for a four-year term); and for Phillip N. Jefferson as a board member (for a term ending in January 2036).
On March 15, Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew as President Joe Biden’s (D) nominee to be Fed vice chair for supervision. Raskin’s nomination was uniformly opposed by Republican senators and became untenable when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he could not vote for her confirmation.