More than 90 nominations were sent to the Senate Tuesday by the White House – including three for federal regulatory agencies, even though their names had been already submitted last year and (in one case) a confirmation hearing already has been held.
The names of Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell, Fed Board Member Lael Brainard and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Todd M. Harper were on the list of 92 nominations submitted to the Senate. However, all three names were submitted to the Senate last year. The names of Powell and Brainard, nominated as chair and vice chair of the Fed, respectively, were submitted Dec. 13.
Harper’s name was first submitted to the Senate in August. He testified in a hearing on his nomination in September. His nomination still awaits a vote by the Senate Banking Committee before advancing for consideration by the full Senate.
Speculation Tuesday for the reason behind the nominations being resubmitted included that at least one senator objected to allowing the nominations to roll over into the second session of the Congress. That objection may have been spurred by Republican senators’ concern over maneuvers among Democratic-appointed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Board members in November to advance policies related to bank merger regulations over the objections of Republican-appointed Chairman Jelena McWilliams. McWilliams has since announced she is resigning from the board on Feb. 4.
Also Tuesday: Reports indicated that Senate confirmation hearings for Powell and Brainard are being planned for some time next week (although the committee’s website, as of Tuesday afternoon, did not show any hearings scheduled).
Nominations Sent to the Senate