Janet Yellen took her final hurdle on her historic path to become Secretary of the Treasury Department on Monday and received overwhelming Senate confirmation for key economic position.
The 84-15 vote made Yellen the first woman to lead the department, a feat she rivaled as chair of the Federal Reserve.
After a mostly cordial hearing before the Senate Treasury Committee, where she received unanimous approval, it was believed that Yellen was almost certain for confirmation. However, the vote was delayed for a few days as the upper house worked its way through President Joe Biden’s first week of administration.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Urged his colleagues before the vote to approve what amounted to a fifth affirmation for Yellen as a government leadership role.
Tonight, the Senate can pass a particularly important economic judgment: affirm Janet Yellen for the fifth time and know that she will work with each of us to get our workers, our small businesses and all Americans from sea to shining sea back on solid economic ground, ‘he said.
In her new role, Yellen will lead an agency tasked with supporting Biden’s ambitious $ 1.9 trillion stimulus program, which comes just months after the federal government closed fiscal year 2020 with a deficit of more than $ 3 trillion.
That persistent red ink, made much worse by the Covid-19 pandemic and the massive government spending spent to keep the economy going, has resulted in a government debt of nearly $ 28 trillion.
When she worked at the Fed, Yellen was in charge of the monetary policy that helped control borrowing costs, though she said that was never the case when the central bank set interest rates.
Yellen earned a reputation as a consensus builder with the Fed, a tool that will come in handy when negotiating a divided congress and a government that continues to pursue a tough policy with China.
One of the ‘no’ voices, Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said he appreciated Yellen’s qualifications for the job, but was disappointed that in speaking to him, she did not support ‘robustly all of the above’ . energy sector. “
She said during her confirmation that China should continue to be held accountable for its actions in the areas of trade and human rights.
Yellen also received some attention when she spoke of the need to regulate cryptocurrencies at a time when bitcoin prices have risen higher.
“I think we need to look carefully at how to encourage its use for legitimate activities while limiting its use for malicious and illegal activities. If this is confirmed, I intend to work closely with the Federal Reserve Board. and the other federal banking and securities regulators on how to implement an effective regulatory framework for these and other fintech innovations, ”said Yellen.
Yellen succeeds Steven Mnuchin, who has held the post of Treasury for the past four years. Former President Donald Trump chose not to reappoint Yellen to lead the Fed after her 2014-18 term.