Later this afternoon, President Barack Obama is set to announce Janet Yellen as his nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeding current chairman Ben Bernanke.
The nomination of Yellen, the current vice-chairman of the Fed Reserve, could make her the first woman to lead the Fed in its 100-year history.
However Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, has vowed to not give Yellen a free pass through the confirmation process in the Senate. In a statement released this morning, Sessions also laid out his view of the Federal Reserve’s role in the U.S. economy.
“I intend to fairly but rigorously scrutinize this nominee,” Sessions said. “What we need in the Fed is a policy of humility that recognizes its limitations and the risk of continued easing. The idea that the Fed has the insight to micromanage the economy, taming bubbles with targeted precision was demolished after they not only failed to see but contributed to the last financial bubble. And while Fed policy has aided large and sophisticated investors who capitalize on low borrowing rates it has squeezed the middle class and working Americans who prudently save their money.”
Alabama’s junior senator was also critical of the “stimulus mindset” that has been prevalent in recent years, especially since president Obama took office.
“The stimulus mindset in Washington – both fiscal and monetary – has not produced strong, sustainable growth,” Sessions continued. “Cash pay for wage earners has declined while Wall Street has been enriched and the size of government has soared. Our nation’s long-term plan surely cannot be to supplement declining wages through ever more government subsidy and borrowing. The nation must begin a steady and firm move toward a sound money policy that creates confidence and stability in our struggling economy.”
Yellen’s nomination will move through the Senate Banking Committee, of which Session’s Alabama colleague Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, is a member.
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