Hello, LOs!
Biden's nominees just got dealt another major setback.
Centrist Democrat Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, said today he won't back Biden's pick for the Federal Reserve's vice chair of supervision, Sarah Bloom Raskin.
Manchin raised concerns not about her business dealings — which had irked Republicans — but about her view that climate change poses a risk to the financial system, and should be taken into account by regulators.
"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 told the New York Times. "I have come to the conclusion that I am unable to support her nomination to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board."
A White House spokesperson fired back on social media, calling Bloom Raskin "one of the most qualified people to have ever been nominated for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors."
Bloom Raskin, who was a Federal Reserve Board governor from 2010 to 2014, also served as a former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
But Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, D-OH, appears to be digging in his heels, for now. Brown told CNBC that he "is working to move forward Ms. Bloom Raskin's nomination with bipartisan support, as Ms. Bloom Raskin has earned twice before."
A mortgage lobbyist predicted that the Senate Banking Committee would allow the vote on Bloom Raskin to proceed, knowing it would in all likelihood die on the Senate floor, split on party lines.
Manchin's opposition could throw a wrench not only in Bloom Raskin's confirmation, but also stall the rest of the Fed nominees before the senate. That also includes Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Sandra Thompson and Fed Governor Lael Brainard, whom Biden nominated to be vice chair at the central bank.
A spokesperson for FHFA referred questions about Thompson's nomination process to the Senate Banking Committee.
As inflation bears down on the nation's economy, keeping Fed Chair Pro Tempore Jerome Powell on the slate gives Democrats substantial leverage. Still, a real estate lobbyist said he expected committee leadership would split up the slate, quipping that Democrats should "cut losses and move on."
Senate Republicans previously boycotted a nomination hearing for the candidates over questions about Bloom Raskin's business dealings. Republicans sought answers to whether Bloom Raskin intervened on behalf of Reserve Trust, a Colorado fintech company, to help the firm obtain a Federal Reserve master account, giving it access to Federal Reserve clearing, payment and settlement services.
LOs, does climate change pose a risk to the financial system? If so, to what extent should the Federal Reserve — which, among other things, reviews and approves bank holding company mergers — take that into account? Send a note to gkromrei@housingwire.com
Georgia Kromrei
Senior Mortgage Reporter, HousingWire
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