The Senate could take up President Donald Trump’s outstanding two nominations to the Federal Reserve board next week, according to Sen. John Cornyn.
It “could be as early as next week,” and has been discussed among the Senate GOP leadership, Texas Republican Cornyn said on Thursday.
As recently as September, Judy Shelton, Trump’s controversial nominee for the Fed board, didn’t yet have enough support to win confirmation, Sen. John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 GOP leader, said at the time.
Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who had not previously announced her position, said Thursday that she would support Shelton. But Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, reiterated his opposition.
Susan Collins is the only other Republican who has said publicly she will vote against Shelton in the chamber. Republicans have a 53-47 majority.
The Senate Banking Committee advanced Shelton’s nomination on a party-line vote in July after a delay of more than a year. The other Fed nominee, Christopher Waller, also was approved by the panel and is pending before the full Senate. Waller is research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and had been expected to get enough votes.
Shelton is known for her past support for the gold standard and for serving as a political loyalist to the president — having worked as an informal adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
She appeared to abandon her advocacy for ultra-tight monetary policy when she emerged as a Fed candidate, publicly aligning herself with the president’s calls for lower interest rates.
A group of former Fed officials and staffers, including ex-Vice Chair Alan Blinder, published an open letter in late August calling on the U.S. Senate to reject Shelton’s nomination.
If either nomination fails to proceed in the lame duck session of the Senate, President-elect Joe Biden would be able to put forward fresh nominees next year.
