Senate advances Biden Fed picks

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed two of President Joe Biden's Federal Reserve nominees and took a step toward approving another, despite brief uncertainty around Sen. Joe Manchin's support.

The Senate promoted Fed board member Philip Jefferson to be the central bank's vice chair in an 88-10 vote, with 39 Republicans joining Democrats in support. The economist will play a lead role in helping shape monetary policy as the Fed decides whether to keep raising interest rates to fight inflation.

GOP opposition posed a bigger challenge for Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s nomination to serve another 14 years. The Senate confirmed Cook in a 51-47 vote with just one Republican, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, supporting her. Adriana Kugler, nominated to join the Fed board, got a boost from three GOP senators in a 52-45 procedural vote: Rounds, plus Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. She is expected to be confirmed Thursday.

Manchin, a West Virginia centrist, raised the stakes for Cook and Kugler before their votes Wednesday when he said he wasn't sure whether he would support them. He later voted in support of both.

Manchin's opposition could have complicated the Fed picks' confirmation, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) not voting this week and Vice President Kamala Harris traveling in Indonesia. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also missed earlier votes Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Fed picks scrambled Senate Republicans, with a number walking back past support from earlier votes on the nominees.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who voted for Jefferson last year but against him Wednesday, said in an interview that "I've been concerned with some of the positions he's taken," including on banking regulations. Murkowski voted in favor of ending debate and taking up Cook's nomination Wednesday afternoon, but then opposed her during the final confirmation vote.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, among the Republicans who voted against the Fed nominees, said in an interview that he opposed them because the Fed is "doing a horrible job," including with banking industry oversight.

Jefferson is the Fed's second Black vice chair. If confirmed, Kugler would be the first Hispanic Fed board member, and she would join Cook as the only other woman of color to serve as a Fed governor.

“I looked back at what she had actually done during the time in which she was on the board," Rounds said of Cook. "She has been one of the individuals that you could sit down and visit with."

Victoria Guida contributed to this report.