Manchin, Collins opposition likely dooms Biden's Fed nominee Raskin

Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins will oppose Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to the Federal Reserve’s top job overseeing banks, all but killing her already stalled bid to win confirmation. Raskin’s nomination has been stuck in the Senate Banking Committee amid a GOP boycott of a committee vote on her nomination, effectively blocking her confirmation from advancing to the Senate floor. Now even if her nomination is able to get out of committee, Raskin would need at least one Republican to support her to be confirmed as vice chair for supervision. Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he told Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Senate Democrats last week that he opposed the Raskin nomination. In announcing his opposition on Monday, he said Raskin has “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.”

“She’s a wonderful person. We had a nice conversation,” Manchin told reporters later. ”Sometimes you just can’t get there.” Her candidacy took another blow after Collins (R-Maine) told reporters she agreed with Manchin that “there is not a path forward” for the nominee and spoke to Raskin on the phone on Monday. She said because of unanswered questions about her record that “it’s pretty clear” she can’t be confirmed and does not support her. Raskin has been a proponent of putting a greater focus on the financial fallout of climate change, writing last September that regulators should “ask themselves how their existing instruments can be used to incentivize a rapid, orderly, and just transition away from high-emission and biodiversity-destroying investments.” Republicans such as Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania expressed fear that she might pursue measures that would make it more expensive for banks to lend to oil companies. It’s not the first time that Manchin has offered game-changing opposition to one of Biden’s nominees. He also opposed Neera Tanden to be Biden’s budget chief, eventually sinking her nomination after she was unable to rally any Republican support.