West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday said he would not support Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden’s nominee to the Federal Reserve, over her stance on climate change, The New York Times reports.
Biden nominated Raskin, who is married to Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, to serve as the Fed’s vice chair for supervision.
Every Republican in the Senate opposed Raskin over her position on climate regulation. Manchin, who has extensive ties to the fossil fuel industry, joined Republicans in opposition, likely dooming Raskin’s nomination.
Raskin, a former Fed governor and Obama administration official, does not appear to have enough support to advance through the evenly-split Senate, though Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown is not giving up on the nomination just yet.
“Manchin’s decision is very likely to doom Raskin’s nomination,” Ian Katz, managing director at Capital Alpha Partners, said of Manchin’s statement. “We wouldn’t be surprised if Raskin withdraws in the next week or two — perhaps sooner.”
Manchin cites climate:
Machin took issue with Raskin’s comments on energy and climate policy, arguing that the Fed board “is not an institution that should politicize its critical decisions.”
“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 in a statement. “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 added that “the Federal Reserve Board must remain hyper-focused on ending the inflation taxes hurting working families and getting more workers off the sidelines and back into the economy.”
GOP blockade:
Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee have boycotted hearings to block Raskin’s nomination as well as four other Fed nominations, including the renomination of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
“As we’ve repeatedly said, Republican members of the Banking Committee are willing to vote on the other four Fed nominees,” Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the panel, said in a statement. “I hope Chairman Brown will immediately move forward with scheduling a vote for this week.”
