Raskin nomination for Fed in peril as Democrat opposes pick

Sen. Joe Manchin says he opposes the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to a key position on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said Monday that he opposes the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to a key position on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, endangering her prospects of winning Senate confirmation.

Raskin's nomination has been stuck in the Senate Banking Committee since Republicans last month unanimously refused to vote on it in order to prevent her being approved on a party-line vote. Manchin is not a member of the committee but his opposition means that for Raskin to win Senate approval, she would need to pick up a Republican vote.

Committee Republicans led by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, have opposed Raskin on the grounds that she has been an outspoken supporter of having the Fed consider the threat to climate change in its regulation of banks. President Joe Biden has nominated Raskin to serve as the Fed's vice chair for supervision, a top financial regulatory post.

Toomey has asserted that Raskin would seek to use the Fed's regulatory authority to discourage banks from lending to oil and gas drilling companies. Raskin denied that in a February hearing. But Manchin, who has long been a strong advocate for energy companies, expressed similar concerns.