Fed chair Powell's renomination advanced by Senate panel

[March 17, 2022]  By Ann Saphir

(Reuters) -A key Senate panel late Wednesday gave its stamp of approval to President Joe Biden's renomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and two other nominees to the Fed Board.

It deadlocked on a fourth, but her nomination will likely also advance to consideration by the full Senate.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, in remarks ahead of the vote, lauded Powell for his leadership of the Fed through the coronavirus pandemic and for his defense of the central bank's independence when Powell came under fire from Republican former President Donald Trump. Powell "has earned the opportunity to lead the Fed as chair," Brown, a Democrat, said.

The 23-1 vote in favor of advancing Powell's nomination -- with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren the lone dissent -- came just a few hours after Powell announced what is expected to be the first of a series of interest rate hikes this year to fight soaring inflation.

The panel also approved the promotion of Fed Governor Lael Brainard to Fed vice chair, in a 16-8 vote, and approved unanimously the nomination of Philip Jefferson, an economist and the dean of faculty at Davidson College in North Carolina. Their names, along with Powell's, are now sent to the full Senate.

Republicans on the panel refused to endorse Lisa Cook, an economics professor at Michigan State University, whom Biden picked to be the first Black female Fed governor.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress", in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Her nomination will go forward anyway. Brown said Wednesday he would transmit notice of the tied vote to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who under Senate rules can have the full Senate "discharge" the panel from further consideration and allow a confirmation vote to proceed.

If all nominees are confirmed, the Fed Board will be the most diverse ever by race, with two Black governors serving at the same time. But the seven-member panel will remain one seat short of its full complement.

On Tuesday, Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew as Biden's nominee to become the top bank regulator at the Fed after Democrat Senator Joe Manchin said he would oppose her.

In a 50-50 Senate that Democrats control only by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking position, nominees opposed by a united Republican front need the backing of every member of Biden's party to gain confirmation.

(Reporting by Dan Burns and Ann SaphirEditing by Shri Navaratnam and Leslie Adler)

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