Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking panel, questioned the backgrounds of President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks amid a brewing conflict over diversity at the central bank and its role in dealing with climate change.

John Hallacy of John Hallacy Consulting LLC sits down with Chip Barnett to talk about what the municipal bond market will face in 2022. He discusses inflation, new issuance volume, and the future of infrastructure this year amid the lingering effects of COVID and Omicron. (19 minutes)

Munis are expected to underperform for another few weeks as markets remain volatile and investors reevaluate allocations.

Why are markets so sanguine about the interest rate outlook? The answer lies in the Fed’s balance sheet, and in particular the level of excess reserves placed there by commercial banks.

Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown plans an early February hearing for President Joe Biden’s three most recent Federal Reserve picks and said he expects bipartisan confirmations of all five nominees to the central bank’s board.

Aoifinn Devitt, chief investment officer at Moneta Group, discusses the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise rates this year, whether this was truly a pivot in Fed thinking, how the market reacted to this change and will how they will respond when rates go up, how new members on the Federal Reserve Board could impact Fed plans and what this all means for investors. Gary Siegel hosts. (28 minutes.)

The largest deal of the week comes from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority with $950 million of exempts and $250 million of taxables.

Newly released transcripts of Federal Reserve policy meetings in 2016 show then-Governors Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard were quick to pivot away from planned interest-rate hikes in the face of risks posed by a stumbling Chinese economy.

President Biden will nominate Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for Supervision and Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to be governors. The selections keep a Biden promise to improve diversity at the Fed.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said the central bank should shrink its balance sheet as fast as it can without disrupting financial markets and repeated her backing to a March interest-rate increase.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell would not commit to timing for liftoff, stressing decisions would be data-based and the Fed will not allow inflation to become entrenched.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida intends to resign from the board of governors on Jan. 14, two weeks before his term is due to expire.

Central bankers need to speak up about economic barriers prompted by racism and the need for inclusion and diversity, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said, a response to critics who see the work as a distraction from the Fed’s main goals. 

The Federal Reserve expects Omicron to fizzle in weeks, and while pandemic-related risks remain, the economy is strong and the Fed needs to address inflation and could liftoff as soon as March, Bullard says.

Sarah Bloom Raskin, reportedly the Biden administration's top candidate for vice chair of supervision, would toughen the Federal Reserve's stances on the role of banks in combating climate change, capital requirements, the Volcker Rule and other policy areas, experts say.

ICI reported $1.101 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the last week of 2021. Refinitiv Lipper figures on Thursday may give a sense of investor sentiment for week one of 2022.

The state expects to cut interest costs through the early repayment on the loan taken out through the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program to help pay down healthcare bills.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold separate hearings next week for Jerome Powell on his nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chair and for Lael Brainard’s elevation to vice chair.

Until supply comes, market participants appear to be content to sit back and let the calendar flip to a new year without making any big moves.

The municipal market is poised to absorb the late-year burst of supply as market technicals are expected to remain positive through year end.