Senate Republicans boycott committee vote on Biden's Federal Reserve nominees

Senate Republicans are blocking all President Biden's nominees for the Federal Reserve from advancing as they raise questions over his pick to be the top banking regulator. In a statement early Tuesday, ranking member Pat Toomey announced Republicans would not attend the meeting, meaning Democrats would not have the quorum necessary to hold the votes.

The Senate Banking Committee was forced to delay votes Tuesday on advancing the nominations of Jerome Powell to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve and Lael Brainard as vice chair. The committee was also supposed to move forward with the nominations of Sarah Bloom Raskin as vice chair of supervision and Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as members of the Board of Governors. 

Democrats warned the boycott could hurt American workers amid soaring inflation and hamper the recovery from the pandemic. But Republicans skipped the meeting over one specific nominee – President Biden's choice of Raskin as the Fed's top banking regulator, responsible for developing regulatory policy recommendations.