Senate panel approves Powell as Fed chair, with only Warren voting no

The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of Jay Powell to serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The panel voted 22-1 to recommend Powell, a Federal Reserve governor and Republican appointed by President Obama in 2012. Only Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voted against Powell, who will likely be confirmed by the full Senate with wide bipartisan approval.

“His judgement and expertise will be a continued asset to the board,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho.).

Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), the panel’s ranking Democrat, voted for Powell, who he said gives the U.S. “the best chance of continued economic growth in spite of a Congress that keeps injecting uncertainty into the economy.”

Brown said he was “disappointed” that Trump didn’t renominate current Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, and that he hopes Powell will resist attempts by Trump to influence the bank.

Warren said she opposed Powell because “I’m very concerned that the Fed will systematically rollback post-crisis rules under Governor Powell’s leadership.”

Powell has supported keeping most of the Dodd-Frank Act intact despite widespread opposition to the law from most other Republicans. He’s said parts of Dodd-Frank should be scaled back and endorsed the general principles of a bipartisan deal released earlier this month.

He said the Volcker Rule banning banks from investing their own assets in certain risky trades shouldn’t apply to banks worth less than $10 billion, and that banks worth less than $100 billion should be exempt from federal stress tests.