Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he won’t back President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Federal Reserve vice chair of supervision, Sarah Bloom Raskin — likely dooming her confirmation in the Senate given Republican opposition.
“I have carefully reviewed Sarah Bloom Raskin’s qualifications and previous public statements,” Manchin said in a statement Monday. “I have come to the conclusion that I am unable to support her nomination to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board.”
Manchin, who represents coal-rich West Virginia, joined Republicans in opposing Raskin over her stance on climate change. Raskin, 60, has written in the past in support of the Fed increasing its attention to financial risks from climate change, but said in her confirmation hearing the central bank had no place in mandating how capital should be allocated among industries.
“Her previous public statements have failed to satisfactorily address my concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation’s critical energy needs,” Manchin said.
GOP members of the Senate Banking Committee have been boycotting a vote on Biden’s five Fed board nominations, arguing that Raskin had failed to fully answer queries about her involvement in fintech company Reserve Trust getting Fed approval for a valuable master account while she was a director at the firm.
The Democratic chair of the panel, Sherrod Brown, has declined to split Raskin from the other nominations — Jerome Powell to serve a second term as chair of the Fed, Gov. Lael Brainard as vice chair and economists Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as governors.
The top Republican on the Banking Committee, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, is leading GOP opposition to Raskin. Democrats would need Manchin’s vote to confirm her to the Fed.
Asked Monday on Bloomberg whether Manchin’s opposition dooms Raskin’s nomination, Toomey said, “It probably does as a practical matter.”
