Biden withdraws Fed official nomination after key Democrat voices opposition

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday withdrew his nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as the Federal Reserve's vice chairwoman for banking supervision, after a key Democratic senator voiced his opposition.

"Despite her readiness - and despite having been confirmed by the Senate with broad, bipartisan support twice in the past - Sarah was subject to baseless attacks from industry and conservative interest groups," Biden said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier the day, Raskin sent a letter to the White House asking to withdraw her name from consideration for the job, according to U.S. media reports.

The withdrawal came one day after Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voiced his opposition to Raskin's nomination, citing her views on addressing climate change.

"Her previous public statements have failed to satisfactorily address my concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation's critical energy needs," Manchin said in a statement.

Raskin had criticized the the Treasury Department and central bank for providing emergency lending to support businesses across the board during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that it should have been designed to avoid lending to highly indebted coal, oil, and natural gas companies.

Raskin said financial regulators must "do all they can" to bring about the adoption of practices and policies that will allocate capital and align portfolios toward sustainable investments that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels.

Without Manchin's vote, Raskin nomination is unlikely to receive approval from the 50-50 split Senate, as Senate Republicans, who have criticized her position on climate regulation, won't back her nomination.

Raskin, who was nominated by Biden in January, has served both as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board. Biden also nominated Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

In late November, Biden announced that he intended to nominate Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair and to nominate Lael Brainard, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as vice chair.

"I urge the Senate Banking Committee to move swiftly to confirm the four eminently qualified nominees for the Board of Governors-Jerome Powell, Lael Brainard, Philip Jefferson, and Lisa Cook - who are still waiting for an up-or-down vote," Biden said Tuesday.