Politics

Fed Nominee’s Confirmation Could Be In Peril After GOP Sens Head Into Self-Isolation

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President Donald Trump’s pick for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors could be in jeopardy after two Republican senators announced that they would quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday to advance Judy Shelton’s nomination to a full confirmation vote, but Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Rick Scott are self-isolating after coronavirus exposures. If Shelton advances to a full vote, the second vote could come Tuesday as well.

Though the House of Representatives allowed for proxy and online voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Senate has not done so, meaning that Grassley and Scott would have to break their self-isolation periods if the vote is held today.

Even with Grassley and Scott, Shelton’s margin of support was already thin. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins have announced their opposition to her confirmation, according to The Hill, meaning that the 50 other Senate Republicans voted in favor, Vice President Mike Pence would have to cast a tie-breaking vote if every Democrat voted against it.

“I oppose the nomination of Judy Shelton because I am not convinced that she supports the independence of the Federal Reserve as much as I believe the Board of Governors should,” Alexander said in a statement Monday.

Republicans also would need to vote on Shelton’s confirmation before Arizona Democratic Senator-elect Mark Kelly is sworn in at the end of November. Kelly, who won a special election against Republican Sen. Martha McSally, would likely oppose Shelton’s confirmation.

Shelton has advocated for returning to the gold standard and disagreed with the Fed’s 2% target inflation rate and its stated goal to adjust interest rates to yield maximum employment. Recently, however, she abandoned her views and called for cuts to the interest rate, mirroring calls by Trump, as she emerged as a candidate for the open Board of Governors’s seat, according to Bloomberg.