President Biden’s nominee to become the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator saw her confirmation process come to an abrupt halt on Tuesday thanks to Republicans boycotting a scheduled committee vote.
Now, Democrats are unsure how to overcome the logjam.
Amid concerns about Sarah Bloom Raskin’s views that the country’s central bank should play a larger role in mitigating financial risks caused by climate change and GOP demands for more information about her prior involvement with a financial technology company, Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee skipped a vote to advance Mrs. Raskin.
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, led the boycott and said Mrs. Raskin wasn’t “a garden-variety political appointment.”
“Committee Republicans aren’t seeking to delay her vote. We’re seeking answers. Until basic questions have been adequately addressed, I do not think the Committee should proceed with a vote on Ms. Raskin,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Biden nominated Mrs. Raskin to be the Fed’s vice chair for supervision to oversee major banks and economic threats. She previously served on the Federal Reserve more than a decade ago under former President Barack Obama, winning confirmation in a unanimous vote.
This time, GOP senators questioned Mrs. Raskin’s lobbying efforts for a Colorado-based financial tech company that was granted a Federal Reserve master account after joining the company’s board of directors. She joined the company after leaving her last stint at the Fed.
Mrs. Raskin, who is the wife of Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, has previously denied any wrongdoing. She said that she “abided by all applicable ethics rules.”
More broadly, GOP lawmakers’ opposition has centered on her belief that the Federal Reserve should enact new restrictions when lending to oil and gas industries, in addition to considering the risks that climate change poses to financial institutions and the economy as a whole.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said Mr. Biden provoked the impasse.
“The best way for this to stop is for the president to quit sending up these kinds of nominees,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “These are highly controversial nominees — extremely controversial — who repeatedly expressed the view that the Fed should be involved in things that are not the Fed’s responsibility.”
The boycott, which prevented a quorum and stopped all committee business, also stalled a slate of Mr. Biden’s other Federal Reserve nominees, including the nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell to a second term.
SEE ALSO: Republicans to boycott controversial Fed nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin
Democrats are not yet sure what their next move will be. More scheduled votes would likely result in more boycotts. Democrats would need a two-thirds Senate majority to change the quorum rules because Sen. Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat, has refused to change rules with a party-line vote in the evenly divided Senate.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, Ohio Democrat, signaled a willingness to separate Mrs. Raskin’s confirmation from the other Federal Reserve nominees to break the impasse. However, Democrats hope inflation concerns will put pressure on Republicans to relent and fill the vacant post as the central bank.
“Another option is that enough Republicans show some courage and stand up to their leadership when they know that this is a problem for our country to not have a full Federal Reserve,” Mr. Brown said after Republicans boycotted the committee vote. “Instead of showing up to work to do their jobs, Republicans have walked out on the American people. Mrs. Raskin has been the subject of an unrelenting fear campaign and fear-mongering by Republicans, something that’s become all too common.”
The procedural quagmire is yet another reminder of the tightrope that Mr. Biden and Democrats must walk when advancing any priorities or nominees that fail to muster bipartisan support.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.