President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet and Staff Nominees

[Trausti]

Opinion | Sen. John Neely Kennedy goes full Joe McCarthy in questioning a Biden nominee born in the U.S.S.R. - The Washington Post

As a refugee from the former Soviet Union and a critic of Trumpism, I have gotten used to receiving hate mail that tells me to go back to where I came from and accuses me of being a Communist or a Russian agent. (Pretty rich coming from supporters of a person elected president with Russian help!) Still, it is startling to see this level of Red-baiting nativism not just in anonymous hate mail but in the august hearing rooms of the U.S. Senate.

Then about Sen John Kennedy R-LA's insinuating that she is a Communist.

Kennedy is far from alone in bringing up Omarova’s background. The Wall Street Journal editorial board accused her of not repudiating her “Soviet-era views,” and Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) argued that she has “an aversion to anything like free-market capitalism” because she “grew up in the former Soviet Union.”

Coming from a family of Soviet emigres (my parents also graduated from Moscow State), I can assure Toomey that people who emigrated from the Soviet Union are usually at least as conservative as he is. That Omarova is on the left no doubt owes a lot more to her background in American academia than to her upbringing in the U.S.S.R.

The kind of smears directed at Omarova were remarkably similar to those aimed at Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, another immigrant from the Soviet Union, who testified about then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to use military aid to blackmail Ukraine. That led to accusations that Vindman was a Ukrainian spy. In Vindman’s case, the calumnies were especially offensive because he is a combat veteran who was wounded in Iraq. But they are bad enough in Omarova’s case, too. No American should be subjected to such character assassination.

This is incredibly dishonest. Senator Kennedy went over her past writings/statements wherein she advocated, among other things, that private banking should be abolished and the government control all accounts. That was the basis of the characterization. But all the media does is lie.

 

[lpetrich]

This is incredibly dishonest. Senator Kennedy went over her past writings/statements wherein she advocated, among other things, that private banking should be abolished and the government control all accounts. That was the basis of the characterization. But all the media does is lie.

That's not what he said in the hearings. Pay attention.

 

[thebeave]

This is incredibly dishonest. Senator Kennedy went over her past writings/statements wherein she advocated, among other things, that private banking should be abolished and the government control all accounts. That was the basis of the characterization. But all the media does is lie.

That's not what he said in the hearings. Pay atten

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "The Republicans attacks on @STOmarova are sexist, xenophobic and racist. It's clear they've declared war on the President's OCC nominee to protect the interests of big banks to the detriment of consumers. The Senate should ignore the red-baiting nonsense & support her nomination." / Twitter

What are the specific sexist, xenophobic and racist "attacks" that AOC is claiming were made?

 

[lpetrich]

Singling out SO because she is an eastern-Asian woman, and implying that she's un-American because of where she came from.

Nominations:

• Graham Scott Steele - Ass't Sec'y of Treasury - 55-38, 53-42
• Robert Farrell Bonnie - Udr Sec'y of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation - 76-19, 68-29
• Jonathan Kanter - Ass't Atty Gnrl - 68-29

Incomplete:

• Brian Eddie Nelson - Udr Sec'y for Terrorism & Financial Crimes - 50-44, 50-50
• Jennifer Sung - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 49-49

 

[thebeave]

Singling out SO because she is an eastern-Asian woman, and implying that she's un-American because of where she came from.

Nominations:

• Graham Scott Steele - Ass't Sec'y of Treasury - 55-38, 53-42
• Robert Farrell Bonnie - Udr Sec'y of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation - 76-19, 68-29
• Jonathan Kanter - Ass't Atty Gnrl - 68-29

Incomplete:

• Brian Eddie Nelson - Udr Sec'y for Terrorism & Financial Crimes - 50-44, 50-50
• Jennifer Sung - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 49-49

What do you mean by this? Unless I missed something, their beef was with regard to her ideas and philosophy. Many nominees before her have been questioned and criticised fairly harshly and rigorously, regardless of their gender or race. Are they supposed to go easy on her just because she is an eastern-Asian woman? Now that would be sexist and racist, for sure.

 

[lpetrich]

Joe Biden taps Shalanda Young, Nani Coloretti for top OMB posts

President Joe Biden will nominate Shalanda Young to serve as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Nani Coloretti to serve as deputy director.

The nominations come at a time when the Biden administration is asking Congress to approve more than $2 trillion in spending on two transformative bills.

Young has served as the acting director of OMB since January. If she’s confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to hold the title.

The Biden Admin's first choice was Neera Tanden, but she had a long history of making nasty tweets about progressives and Republicans.

Unlike Tanden, Young enjoys broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. In March, the Senate confirmed Young as deputy director of OMB in a 63-37 vote. More than a dozen Republicans voted to confirm her.

 

[lpetrich]

Singling out SO because she is an eastern-Asian woman, and implying that she's un-American because of where she came from.

What do you mean by this? Unless I missed something, their beef was with regard to her ideas and philosophy. Many nominees before her have been questioned and criticised fairly harshly and rigorously, regardless of their gender or race. Are they supposed to go easy on her just because she is an eastern-Asian woman? Now that would be sexist and racist, for sure.

So Red-baiting is your idea of doing assessments?

 

[thebeave]

Singling out SO because she is an eastern-Asian woman, and implying that she's un-American because of where she came from.

What do you mean by this? Unless I missed something, their beef was with regard to her ideas and philosophy. Many nominees before her have been questioned and criticised fairly harshly and rigorously, regardless of their gender or race. Are they supposed to go easy on her just because she is an eastern-Asian woman? Now that would be sexist and racist, for sure.

So Red-baiting is your idea of doing assessments?

They did question her about her background living as a Communist in a Communist country. When people get high level security clearances (like I had) or top level jobs in government, they answer questions about their travels, stays and purpose in Communist countries. It is not unreasonable to ask about that. That's not what I'm asking about though. All I want to know is what racist and sexist attacks AOC is claiming were made against SO. Its a pretty simple question.

 

[Trausti]

This is incredibly dishonest. Senator Kennedy went over her past writings/statements wherein she advocated, among other things, that private banking should be abolished and the government control all accounts. That was the basis of the characterization. But all the media does is lie.

That's not what he said in the hearings. Pay attention.

Wut? He did quote that, amongst her other writings. Pay attention.

 

[lpetrich]

Wut? He did quote that, amongst her other writings. Pay attention.

Where? I suspect that this was a quote out of context.

Imagine the tables turned. A Republican President appoints some Nordic-looking man who was raised in Russia. A Democratic Senator then presumes that he is working for Vladimir Putin and grills him about his seeming evidence of loyalty to that Russian leader. All the right-wingers would be howling "No fair! No fair! No fair!".

 

[blastula]

This is incredibly dishonest. Senator Kennedy went over her past writings/statements wherein she advocated, among other things, that private banking should be abolished and the government control all accounts. That was the basis of the characterization. But all the media does is lie.

I don't see how that takes away that he did call her comrade.

He also started his questioning by asking her about being a member in the youth communist organization, something mandatory for students at the time. He wanted to know whether she has ever sent in a letter of resignation.

 

[lpetrich]

Statement of President Joe Biden and Nominee for Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova | The White House

"I have accepted Saule Omarova’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency."

SO herself:

"I am writing to you today with a request to withdraw my candidacy from further consideration for the position of the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency."

Her home page: Saule Omarova - Cornell Law School

 

[lpetrich]

• Brian Eddie Nelson - Udr Sec'y for Terrorism & Financial Crimes - 50-44, 50-50, 50-49
• Jennifer Sung - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 49-49, 48-39, 50-49
• Rachael S. Rollins - US Atty for Dist of MA - 50-47, 50-50, 50-50
• Jessica Rosenworcel - Member of the FCC - 64-27, 68-31
• Deirdre Hamilton - Member of the Nat'l Mediation Board - 51-48, 52-48
• Chris Magnus - Comissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, US Dept of Homeland Security - 52-47, 50-47
• Michael D. Smith - CEO of the Corp for Nat'l and Community Service - 60-39, 58-41
• Lucy Haeran Koh - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 51-38, 48-39, 50-45
• Samantha D. Elliott - US Dist Judge for Dist of NH - 59-40, 62-37
• Ramin Toloui - Ass't Sec'y of State, Economic and Business Affairs - 76-13
• Atul Atmaram Gawande - Ass't Admin of the US Agency for International Development - 49-31, 48-31
• Linda Lopez - US Dist Judge for S Dist of CA - 47-30, 48-25
• Jinsook Ohta - US Dist Judge for S Dist of CA - 47-25, 47-24
• David Herrera Urias - US Dist Judge for Dist of NM - 45-25, 45-26
• Maame Ewusi-Mensah - US Dist Judge for C Dist of CA - 47-24, 46-24
• Jane M. Beckering - US Dist Judge for the W Dist of MI - 46-24, 45-25
• Shalina D. Kumar - US Dist Judge for the E Dist of MI - 45-25, 44-25
• Jennifer L. Thurston - US Dist Judge for E Dist of CA - 46-24, 46-24
• Katherine Marie Menendez - US Dist Judge for Dist of MN - 49-21, 49-21
• Mary Katherine Dimke - US Dist Judge for E Dist of WA - 47-23, 47-23

Incomplete:

• Holly A. Thomas - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 50-46, 42-25
• Gabriel P. Sanchez - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 44-24

All these redundant cloture votes.

 

[lpetrich]

Federal judiciary: The remarkable speed with which Joe Biden is seating judges.

As 2021 draws to a close, President Joe Biden has good reason to be frustrated. His legislative agenda is stymied in the Senate. His executive authority is under assault from Donald Trump’s judges. His administration was blindsided, again, by a spiraling COVID surge, this time with omicron. But there is one front on which Biden has a near-perfect score: judicial nominations. Over the past year, the White House has put forth slate after slate of diverse, well-qualified, progressive nominees—and the Senate has swiftly confirmed them. Biden’s breakneck pace, combined with his choice of nontraditional judges, has shattered too many records to count. No, the president has not loosened Donald Trump’s stranglehold on the Supreme Court. But his transformation of the lower courts will still have a profound impact on American law for decades to come.

How many judges confirmed in the first year of one's Presidency??

• JB: 40, the most since Ronald Reagan
• George Bush II, Bill Clinton: 28
• Donald Trump: 19
• Barack Obama: 13

In the US Court of Appeals:

• JB: 11
• BO: 3

A FAIRER COURT: How President Biden and Congress Raised the Bar in 2021

According to Alliance for Justice, nearly 75 percent of Biden’s judicial nominees are women, and nearly 65 percent are people of color. For comparison, only 24 percent of Trump’s judicial nominees were women, and just 16 percent were people of color.

...
While Clinton and Obama made a partial dent in the judiciary’s homogeneity, Trump zagged in the other direction, favoring straight white men. To combat this “whitewashing” of the judiciary, Biden and his advisers have ventured beyond the small circle of legal elites, seeking out lawyers who are too often overlooked by the usual gatekeepers.

This approach has led the White House to nominate candidates with a breadth of experience that goes far beyond what usually propels someone into the judiciary. For too long, Democratic and Republican presidents (including Obama) have elevated a disproportionate number of prosecutors and corporate lawyers to the bench. This bias skews and narrows courts’ perspectives; it deprives them of “a collaboration of minds with different voices, different perspectives, different experiences working together to solve problems,” as one judge noted. Or, to put it more cynically, it prejudices courts toward powerful corporations and prosecutors.

Under pressure from court reform groups like Demand Justice, Biden bucked this custom. He has nominated 21 public defenders, 14 civil rights attorneys, 10 plaintiff-side lawyers, three former legal aid lawyers, three consumer protection lawyers, and one labor lawyer. Already, he has doubled the number of former public defenders on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Several of his nominees previously fought for voting rights (Myrna Pérez and Dale Ho), marriage equality (Beth Robinson), and death row inmates (Holly Thomas). Their commitment to these controversial causes was not a deal-breaker for the White House; it was a selling point. At long last, courageous attorneys who stick their necks out to promote progressive values are being rewarded rather than punished by the Democratic establishment.

There is, however, a deficiency: Lawyers who have handled reproductive-rights issues.

 

[lpetrich]

So far, most of Biden’s nominees come from states with at least one Democratic senator, which eases the way to confirmation. But an increasing number of vacancies are opening up in states with two Republican senators, and these seats may prove harder to fill. Historically, the Senate Judiciary Committee sends “blue slips” to a nominee’s home-state senators soliciting their approval; for years, the committee killed nominations if senators did not return these slips. Under Obama, Republicans withheld blue slips to hold vacancies open for years. When Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley chaired the committee, however, they abandoned this practice, allowing the confirmation of Trump’s appeals court nominees from blue states, even over the objection of both Democratic senators.

The question is what will Democrats do now that it is their turn again. In the past, Dick Durbin—a Democrat and the current chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee—has indicated that he would not tolerate a blue slip blockade from Republicans. And on Wednesday, a committee aide confirmed to me that Durbin “does not plan to defer to Republicans who don’t return blue slips on circuit seats.” Moreover, while Republicans preserved blue slips for district court nominees, Durbin won’t abide by that rule “if he feels it will be abused,” the aide said.

But the Republicans are likely to squeal very loudly if Democrats treat them the way that they treated Democrats in the Trump years.

 

[lpetrich]

Biden's court picks face fierce GOP opposition | TheHill

President Biden is facing fierce opposition from the Republicans to his court picks, marking the latest escalation of an increasingly partisan fight in the Senate over the nation’s courts.

Most Republicans have voted for only a handful of the 40 judicial picks confirmed by the Senate this year, with a GOP senator voting on average for fewer than five nominees, according to a Hill review of the votes.

It’s a steep departure from the Obama years that, absent a reversal, judiciary watchers warn, represents a “new normal” in what has historically been a largely mundane but key part of the Senate’s work: confirming judicial nominees.

...
More than 92 percent of Biden’s court picks got "no" votes from more than 25 percent of senators, compared to 18.2 percent at the same point in former President Obama’s tenure, according to The Heritage Foundation's judicial appointments tracker.

It’s closer to, but still higher than, the roughly 68 percent of Trump’s judicial nominees who got "no" votes from more than 25 percent of senators, according to the Heritage data.

At least the Republicans can't obstruct those picks, like they did with Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.

 

[lpetrich]

• Gabriel P. Sanchez - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 44-24, 52-47
• Holly A. Thomas - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 50-46, 42-25, 48-40
• Anne A. Witkowsky - Ass't Sec'y of State for Conflict & Stabilization Ops - 62-24, 61-26
• Alan Davidson - Ass't Sec'y of Commerce for Communications & Information - 64-30, 60-31
• Amitabha Bose - Admin of Federal Railroad Administration - 61-29, 68-29
• Bridget Meehan Brennan - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 61-30, 61-35
• Charles Esque Fleming - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 55-41, 56-42
• David Augustin Ruiz - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 59-38, 62-35
• Rupa Ranga Puttagunta - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 59-38, 57-38
• Kenia Seoane Lopez - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 59-38, 59-38
• Sean C. Staples - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 55-38, 59-38
• Ebony M. Scott - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 58-37, 59.38
• Donald Walker Tunnage - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 57-38, 54-39
• John P. Howard III - Assoc Judge of the DC Ct of Appeals - 62-34, 62-34
• Loren L. AliKhan - Assoc Judge of the DC Ct of Appeals - 55-40, 55-41
• Amy Gutmann - Amb to Germany - 54-37, 54-42
• Lisa A. Carty - Rep of the US in the UN Econ and Soc Council - 66-28, 66-31
• Scott A. Nathan - CEO of the US Int'l Development Finance Corp - 68-26, 72-24
• Chantale Yokmin Wong - US Dir of the Asian Develoment Bank - 64-30, 66-31
• John Patrick Coffey - Gnrl Counsel of the Dep't of the Navy - 76-18, 79-17
• Alexandra Baker - Dep Udr Sec'y of Defense - 70-24, 75-21
• Reta Jo Lewis - Pres of the Ex-Im Bank of the US - 54-39, 56-40
• Leonard Philip Stark - US Crct Judge for Fed Crct - 54-33, 61-35
• Douglas R. Bush - Ass't Sec'y of the Army - 95-2, 93-2
• Neil Harvey MacBride - Gnrl Counsel of the Treasury Dep't - 61-33
• Max Vekich - Fed Maritime Commissioner - 52-45, 51-43
• Robert McKinnon Califf - Commissioner of Food and Drugs, HHS Dep't - 49-45 #
• Celeste Ann Wallander - Ass't Sec'y of Defense - 81-13, 83-13
• David A. Honey - Dep Udr Sec'y of Defense - 93-3, 94-1
• Maria L. Pagan - Dep US Trade Rep (Geneva Office) - 78-19, 80-19
• Shalanda D. Young - Dir of Office of Mgmt & Budget - 53-31, 61-36

Incomplete:

• Samuel R. Bagenstos - Gnrl Counsel of the HHS Dep't

 

[lpetrich]

 Shalanda Young was made Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget a year ago, and she was made Acting Director after Neera Tanden's candidacy failed. Last fall, President Biden nominated her for director, and yesteerday, she was confirmed as Director.

Voting for her in all four votes: all the Democrats that voted, and some of the Republicans that voted, like Susan Collins R-ME and Lisa Murkowski R-AK.

2021 Cloture vote

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Shalanda D. Young to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget )
Vote Number: 128
Vote Date: March 23, 2021, 11:57 AM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Cloture Motion Agreed to

D+I: Y 50
R: Y 12, N 38
Ttl: Y 62, N 38

2021 Nomination vote

Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation: Shalanda D. Young, of Louisiana, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget )
Vote Number: 129
Vote Date: March 23, 2021, 02:16 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Nomination Confirmed

D+I: Y 50
R: Y 13, N 37
Ttl: Y 63, N 37

2022 Cloture vote

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Shalanda D. Young, of Louisiana, to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget )
Vote Number: 79
Vote Date: March 14, 2022, 05:31 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Cloture Motion Agreed to

D+I: Y 42, nv 8
R: Y 11, N 31, nv 8
Ttl: Y 53, N 31, nv 16

2022 Nomination vote

Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation: Shalanda D. Young, of Louisiana, to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget )
Vote Number: 80
Vote Date: March 15, 2022, 04:04 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2
Vote Result: Nomination Confirmed

D+I: Y 47, nv 3
R: Y 14, N 36
Ttl: Y 61, N 36, nv 3

 

[lpetrich]

Fixed list:

• Gabriel P. Sanchez - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 44-24, 52-47
• Holly A. Thomas - US Crct Judge for 9th Crct - 50-46, 42-25, 48-40
• Anne A. Witkowsky - Ass't Sec'y of State for Conflict & Stabilization Ops - 62-24, 61-26
• Alan Davidson - Ass't Sec'y of Commerce for Communications & Information - 64-30, 60-31
• Amitabha Bose - Admin of Federal Railroad Administration - 61-29, 68-29
• Bridget Meehan Brennan - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 61-30, 61-35
• Charles Esque Fleming - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 55-41, 56-42
• David Augustin Ruiz - US Dist Judge for N Dist of OH - 59-38, 62-35
• Rupa Ranga Puttagunta - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 59-38, 57-38
• Kenia Seoane Lopez - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 59-38, 59-38
• Sean C. Staples - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 55-38, 59-38
• Ebony M. Scott - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 58-37, 59-38
• Donald Walker Tunnage - Assoc Judge of the Superior Ct of DC - 57-38, 54-39
• John P. Howard III - Assoc Judge of the DC Ct of Appeals - 62-34, 62-34
• Loren L. AliKhan - Assoc Judge of the DC Ct of Appeals - 55-40, 55-41
• Amy Gutmann - Amb to Germany - 54-37, 54-42
• Lisa A. Carty - Rep of the US in the UN Econ and Soc Council - 66-28, 66-31
• Scott A. Nathan - CEO of the US Int'l Development Finance Corp - 68-26, 72-24
• Chantale Yokmin Wong - US Dir of the Asian Develoment Bank - 64-30, 66-31
• John Patrick Coffey - Gnrl Counsel of the Dep't of the Navy - 76-18, 79-17
• Alexandra Baker - Dep Udr Sec'y of Defense - 70-24, 75-21
• Reta Jo Lewis - Pres of the Ex-Im Bank of the US - 54-39, 56-40
• Leonard Philip Stark - US Crct Judge for Fed Crct - 54-33, 61-35
• Douglas R. Bush - Ass't Sec'y of the Army - 95-2, 93-2
• Neil Harvey MacBride - Gnrl Counsel of the Treasury Dep't - 61-33
• Max Vekich - Fed Maritime Commissioner - 52-45, 51-43
• Celeste Ann Wallander - Ass't Sec'y of Defense - 81-13, 83-13
• David A. Honey - Dep Udr Sec'y of Defense - 93-3, 94-1
• Maria L. Pagan - Dep US Trade Rep (Geneva Office) - 78-19, 80-19
• Shalanda D. Young - Dir of Office of Mgmt & Budget - 53-31, 61-36

Incomplete:

• Robert McKinnon Califf - Commissioner of Food and Drugs, HHS Dep't - 49-45
• Samuel R. Bagenstos - Gnrl Counsel of the HHS Dep't - 48-47

Then 12 cloture votes for judge appointments. Nearly *every* appointment so far has had a cloture vote as well as a vote on the appointment itself.

 

[lpetrich]

There was some drama llama recently over one would-be appointment, that of Sarah Bloom Raskin to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

From  Sarah Bloom Raskin

Sarah Bloom Raskin (born April 15, 1961) is an American attorney and regulator, who served as the 13th United States deputy secretary of the treasury from 2014 to 2017 and as member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2010 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Bloom Raskin previously served as Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation and as a managing director at the Promontory Financial Group.[1] She is a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke University. In May 2017, she was elected to the Board of Directors for Reserve Trust Company, a FinTech company based in Colorado. [2] In January 2022, President Joe Biden nominated her to succeed Randal Quarles as vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve.[3] On March 15, 2022, she withdrew her name from consideration to serve at the Fed, citing "relentless attacks by special interests" who oppose her frank acknowledgment that climate change could pose a threat to economic stability.[4]

Sarah Bloom Raskin | Federal Reserve History

Statement from President Biden on the Withdrawal of Sarah Bloom Raskin’s Nomination to Serve as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors | The White House

Despite her readiness—and despite having been confirmed by the Senate with broad, bipartisan support twice in the past—Sarah was subject to baseless attacks from industry and conservative interest groups. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans are more focused on amplifying these false claims and protecting special interests than taking important steps toward addressing inflation and lowering costs for the American people

Biden's plan to reshape the Fed just hit a hurdle - CNN

President Joe Biden planned to reshape the Federal Reserve through his nominations for the three vacant seats on the board of governors. But Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia threw a wrench into those plans Monday.

...
Raskin's stance on environmental issues, including her view on the transition away from fossil fuels, are colliding with soaring gas prices and a renewed debate about oil independence in the face of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"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 on Monday announcing his opposition to Raskin's nomination. Manchin is not a member of the Senate Banking Committee that will be voting on Raskin's candidacy.

The US Chamber of Commerce already voiced concern over her nomination to be the vice chair of supervision -- essentially the Fed's top banking regulator -- in January. And a month ago, Senate Republicans boycotted a vote in protest of Raskin's nomination, halting a slate of pending nominees for the central bank.

The renomination of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for another term is also stalled. Even though Powell is enjoying support on both sides of the aisle, he hasn't been fully confirmed yet, leaving him with the title add-on "pro tempore" for now.

Sarah Bloom Raskin withdraws herself from consideration to the Federal Reserve Board - CNN

But Raskin, a former Fed governor who was deputy Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, faced stiff opposition in the Senate based on her stance on climate change and fear that she could discourage banks from lending to fossil fuel companies.

In her letter to Biden withdrawing her nomination, which was shared with CNN, she wrote that many "in and outside the Senate are unwilling to acknowledge the economic complications of climate change and the toll it has placed, and will continue to place, on Americans. "

"It was — and is — my considered view that the perils of climate change must be added to the list of serious risks that the Federal Reserve considers as it works to ensure the stability and resiliency of our economy and financial system," she added. "This is not a novel or radical position."

After Joe Manchin's rejection of her, President Biden looked for support among Republicans, but didn't find any.