Last Tuesday, Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew as President Joe Biden's nominee for Fed vice chair of supervision after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he wouldn't vote in favor of her final confirmation in light of her outspoken stance on climate issues.
Manchin's vote was needed to ensure Raskin's final confirmation as the nation's top banking regulator in the evenly divided Senate.
In light of this, Raskin's withdrawal was made all the more necessary due to a Republican blockade in the Senate Banking Committee that had stalled the confirmation process for Biden's other top Fed picks, including Jerome Powell, who seeks a second term as Fed chairman.
In a letter to President Biden, Raskin relayed that she was subject to attacks by special interests because of "my frank public discussion of climate change and the economic costs associated."
Adding that now that she has withdrawn, "there can be no excuse left for a continued boycott of the Constitution's 'advice and consent' process and the Senate's corresponding refusal to attend to our nation's real economic needs.
"Sarah was subject to baseless attacks from industry and conservative groups," said President Biden.
The President has yet to put forward a new nominee for post although on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the President's pick would be coming shortly.
Raskin's view that top financial regulators need to account for the economic costs of climate change won her ardent support from progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and other Democrats. However, in light of her views, she was unable to win the support of the aforementioned Senator Manchin, who often acts in the interests of the coal industry in his state.
Despite being twice confirmed by the Senate, as both Fed Governor and deputy Treasury Secretary, Manchin said Raskin had failed to address his concerns "about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation's critical energy needs."
Meanwhile, Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee refused to attend votes on Raskin's nomination, citing concerns surrounding Raskin's time as director of Colorado fintech firm Reserve Trust.
Thus Republicans were able to stall the confirmation process for Biden's other top Fed picks, including the aforementioned Mr. Powell, Lael Brainard, Biden's would-be vice-chair, and Phillip Jefferson and Lisa Cook, who both seek terms as governors.
Under Senate rules a nominee can only advance to the floor for a full vote if a committee approves them or obtains 60 votes on the floor of the Senate. Democrats had refused to call for votes on Biden's other nominees, fearing Republicans would stall Raskin's bid indefinitely.
The Senate Banking Committee confirmed Powell, Brainard, and Jefferson's nominations on Tuesday. However, the Committee remains deadlocked on Lisa Cook.
Democrats may be able to move her nomination forward if they call for and remain unified during a separate procedural vote before the full Senate.
- 1.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-15/raskin-withdraws-from-fed-consideration-after-support-crumbles
- 2.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/powell-brainard-fed-nominations-advance-to-full-senate-vote
- 3.https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/03/15/sarah-bloom-raskin-fed-withdraw/