Senate committee votes unanimously in favor of Yellen as secretary of the treasury

Janet Yellen, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is one more step towards the appointment of secretary of the Treasury.

The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve Yellen’s appointment on Friday morning, paving the way for a full Senate vote. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has said he hopes GOP support will mean “bipartisan” support under the new Democratic administration.

Republican colleagues have said they support Yellen despite his disagreement on several of his political positions. The general consensus was that she was exceptionally qualified for the post.

Committee members were hoping for a full Senate vote to confirm Yellen’s appointment on Friday, but at the time of publication that has yet to materialize.

If confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury, Yellen would become a key member of President Biden’s cabinet and act as a senior adviser on economic issues and fiscal policy. She would also be the first woman to hold the post.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Yellen called for “big action” on the Covid-19 crisis. She said:

“Economists don’t always agree, but I think there is a consensus now: without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now – and long-term scars in the economy later. . “

Yellen led the Federal Reserve between 2014 and 2018, becoming the first woman to do so. Under his leadership, the central bank made its first attempt to normalize monetary policy – an initiative that was later scaled back under Jerome Powell.

The cryptocurrency industry has been following Yellen’s nomination process closely. The former Fed chief gave mixed signals on digital assets. On the one hand, it touted Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets as an important innovation in optimizing global transactions. On the other hand, she expressed concerns about the role of crypto in money laundering and illicit financing.

The final days of the Trump administration caused great anxiety for the cryptocurrency industry after then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to speed up new regulations targeting self-contained crypto wallets. hosted.

On his first day in office, President Biden froze all regulation of federal agencies, preventing the advancement of several Trump-era policies. The proposed crypto wallet regulation was one of them.