LOCAL HEADLINES: Republican Senators Must Confirm Fed Nominees to Fight Inflation

March 9, 2022

This week, local newspapers from Pennsylvania to South Dakota to Idaho are featuring reports and commentary calling on Senate Republicans to fulfill their constitutional duty and confirm critical nominees for the Federal Reserve. These Republicans – who routinely complain about higher costs without having a plan to lower them – are now pulling political stunts to block highly qualified nominees to the Federal Reserve Board where they can immediately get to work to tackle inflation. 

Here’s what they’re reading about Senate Republicans refusal to help fight inflation… 

In Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Norman Eisen: Toomey must heed Biden’s urgent call to confirm

In his State of the Union address, President Biden called on Congress to urgently address the economy, adding, “and while you’re at it, confirm my nominees to the Federal Reserve.” But the Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee, led by Pennsylvania’s Sen. Pat Toomey, are illegitimately blockading Mr. Biden’s entire slate of Fed picks due to baseless ethics allegations against one of the nominees, Sarah Bloom Raskin.

For the sake of our economy in a time of inflation, war and other crises, this must end.

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While Republican senators kvetch about inflation and other economic issues, they are simultaneously abusing technicalities to prevent the Senate from confirming the very people whose job it is to fight rising prices and to maximize employment. These senators are harming good people and the country. The obstruction must end, starting with a prompt committee vote on all the Fed nominees — including Ms. Raskin.

In South Dakota: Rapid City Journal: NESIBA: Confirm nominees to help our economy

President Biden has nominated a serious, qualified, nonpartisan group of five nominees for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Together they bring an extraordinary amount of skill, experience, and competence to the Federal Reserve.  

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I urge Senators Rounds and Thune to vote to confirm these five qualified and nonpartisan nominees. Their education and prior experience will help our economic system address the continuing challenges caused by the pandemic.

In Idaho: Idaho Statesman: Idaho U.S. Sen. Crapo a roadblock to Biden’s Federal Reserve pick as inflation mounts

Amid historic inflation rates and the push for greater economic recovery from the pandemic, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho is helping lead a Republican standoff with Democratic President Joe Biden over a senior-level appointment to the central bank that manages the nation’s financial system.

The Senate Banking Committee’s Republican members, including Crapo, held up the confirmation process last month for the president’s nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The committee’s 12 Republicans banded together at the direction of the ranking member, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to skip the Feb. 15 meeting, withholding the quorum needed for a vote.

The White House has called the Republican move a “very extreme step” and “totally irresponsible” in light of ongoing financial challenges and the two parties’ mutual interest in stabilizing the American economy.

“So Republicans are out there saying, ‘Inflation is a problem. It’s a huge issue,'” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last month. “We agree. And then they’re not even bothering to show up to even vote against these nominees to the Federal Reserve. What message is that sending to the American public?”

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