WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 -- U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Janet Yellen as the next head of the Federal Reserve, to replace the outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke whose term ends at the end of this month.

The Senate voted 56 to 26 to approve the confirmation.

Yellen, currently the Fed's vice chair, would become the first woman to take the helm of the U.S. central bank in its 100-year history.

She was nominated by President Obama for the post in October and would be the first Democrat to serve the job since 1987.