GOP lawmakers to block Biden's Federal Reserve nominees, say nominee Raskin won't give information

Senate Republicans also have concerns about Raskin's position on fossil fuel companies' access to COVID-19 emergency lending programs

By Sophie Mann

GOP senators who sit on the chamber's Banking Committee are planning to block votes on President Biden's five nominees to the Federal Reserve, says Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, the top-ranking Republican on the panel.

They will reportedly no-show for the scheduled vote. Senate rules require at least two members of the minority party to be there for the panel to pass the nominees out of committee.

Toomey says the chamber's Republican minority decided to block the nominees after Democrats refused to slow down the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin, about whom, Toomey says, the committee needs more information. He also argued her policy views alone are "disqualifying."

"Until basic questions have been adequately addressed, I do not think the Committee should proceed with a vote on Ms. Raskin," the retiring senator said.

The vote on Raskin was scheduled for Tuesday. She was meant to be voted on alongside Jerome Powell, who is being renominated to run the Federal Reserve, Lael Brainard, who is being nominated as the vice chair of the bank, and Lisa Cook and Phillip Jefferson, who are being nominated to become members of the Fed's board of governors.

Toomey argues that Raskin, who served on the Fed's board of governors during the Obama administration, would not answer questions about her work with Reserve Trust, a financial firm that she advised from 2017 to 2019.

GOP lawmakers have pointed to concerns about Raskin's attempt to help the firm receive a charter to access the Federal Reserve's payment transmission system after its first attempt failed.

Additionally, Raskin opted to sell her shares in the company for $1.5 million in 2020.

Raskin, the wife of Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, perhaps best known for his role as an impeachment manager for President Trump, is also facing GOP headwinds for her position that the Fed should reject fossil fuel companies from COVID-19 emergency lending programs. And she has advocated for utilizing the financial system to mold climate change policy.

As the vice chair of supervision at the Federal Reserve, Raskin would be in charge of the oversight process of major parks and determine the institution's regulatory agenda.