Sarah Bloom Raskin has taken herself out of consideration for the Federal Reserve’s vice chair of supervision position she was nominated for by President Joe Biden. Raskin sent a letter withdrawing from the Fed nomination process on Tuesday, calling out the “polarized condition” of the Senate confirmation process. “We are entering an era of financial economic war, inflation, and climate transition,” Raskin said in a letter obtained by The New Yorker. “These risks cannot be dismissed for political reasons, certainly at this moment when the possibilities of mitigating them still exist.” Being that Raskin was perhaps the most outspoken of Biden’s five Fed nominees about climate change, Republicans—and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin—consistently targeted her for her beliefs. In fact, it was Manchin’s decision not to support Raskin yesterday that was widely seen as the final blow dooming Raskin’s nomination.
Raskin pointed out that she had bipartisan support when confirmed twice during the Obama administration but noted that things had clearly changed, given Republicans’ “drive to make financial risk a tawdry political issue.” The former deputy Treasury secretary and former Federal Reserve Board of Governors member said she felt called to serve once more but found the confirmation process this go-round absolutely chilling. “My experience as a financial regulator and lawyer have taught me to value serious policy debate and dialogue in the process of developing the best regulatory policies within the boundaries of law. But rather than a productive and informed discussion about climate and financial risk, the country was treated to diversionary attacks on my ethics and character,” Raskin noted. “These attacks have been fully refuted and have no basis in law or fact. I have had a long career in which my integrity and character are matters of public record, and therefore I am not concerned with attacks on my character. I am deeply concerned, however, with the danger that this practice poses to the common good and the willingness of competent and devoted people to serve in government.”
Sarah Bloom Raskin's letter removing herself from nomination consideration by Daily Kos on Scribd
Part of Raskin’s reason for withdrawing from consideration had to do with her fellow nominees. Republicans made it clear they would advance everyone but Raskin: Lael Brainard, Lisa Cook, and Philip Jefferson as well as Jerome Powell, who is up for a second term as Fed chair. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania has yet to issue a statement regarding Raskin walking away from the nomination process, but in a Twitter thread posted on Monday, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee clearly sided with Manchin on his opposition to Raskin. Senate Banking Committee members have been relatively silent since news broke of Raskin withdrawing from consideration, though Thom Tillis was quick to tweet that there was “no path forward” for her.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was thanked by Raskin in her letter, issued a statement blasting Republicans for engaging “in a disingenuous smear campaign, distorting Ms. Raskin’s views beyond recognition and [making] unsubstantiated attacks on her character.” Brown continued:
“Sadly, the American people will be denied a thoughtful, experienced public servant who was ready to fight inflation, stand up to Wall Street and corporate special interests, and protect our economy from foreign cyber attacks and climate change. She was unanimously confirmed twice by the Senate and has unquestionable qualifications. Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues ignored the broad, bipartisan support from community bankers, top economists, cybersecurity experts, state banking regulators, consumer advocates, and so many others. Instead, they fell for talking points written by the oil and gas industry.”
He implored Republicans to indeed confirm Brainard, Cook, Jefferson, and Powell. So far, though Brainard and Cook have been clearly supportive of climate initiatives, they have faced little pushback from the GOP. Jefferson’s views are still up in the air, while Powell has previously claimed that climate change is not a major factor in his or the Fed’s decision-making.
