Senate confirms Bernanke for second term as Fed chief, 70 to 30
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Ben Bernanke today won a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
In a debate that was more about popular anger over the economy and government bailouts than about Bernanke’s technical qualifications, the Senate voted 70-30 to confirm Bernanke.
Earlier, the Senate had voted 77-23 on the cloture motion that assured the confirmation. That motion required 60 votes to pass.
Bernanke, 56, was picked by President George W. Bush to head the nation’s central bank, and President Obama nominated him to a second term in August. The current four-year term expires Sunday.
Bernanke has spent most of his career in academia, with 17 years teaching economics at Princeton.
But the nomination was really a lightning rod about Bernanke’s role in funneling trillions of dollars into the beleaguered financial system and being one of the architects of the federal bailout of many banks and financial institutions. As Wall Street has reported bonus packages and hefty salaries, the bailout has become a political liability and Bernanke has suffered for it.
His nomination was opposed by an alliance of liberals and conservatives, united in their unhappiness. Liberals, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, opposed Bernanke’s focus on Wall Street at the expense of Main Street, while conservatives argued that Bernanke failed to see the coming crisis.
“Bernanke fiddled while our markets burned,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, a conservative Republican from Alabama, complaining that Bernanke did not see the economic crisis.
No Fed chairman has ever been rejected by the Senate. Paul Volcker in 1983 was confirmed for a second term by a vote of 84-16.
-- Michael Muskal
