Public Citizen Launches Six-Figure Ad Buy Demanding Republicans End Obstruction of Highly-Qualified Federal Reserve Nominees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public Citizen today launched a multi-fronted campaign, including a six-figure digital ad effort, mobile billboards, and a call-in campaign to pressure key Republican senators to allow the committee to proceed with a vote on President Biden’s nominees to the Federal Reserve Board when the Senate reconvenes next week.
“If Republicans are worried about inflation, as they claim, it’s beyond reckless for them to stall the institution responsible for keeping our economy stable,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “Republicans are playing partisan politics on the Federal Reserve and neglecting their duty to the American people. The Senate must confirm the highly qualified Fed nominees ASAP so the Fed can get down to business.”
Targeting Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Public Citizen is running digital ads in each senator’s state, noting his absence at the committee hearing and calling on each to do his job and stop playing politics with the Fed. Early next week, the digital ads will begin running in the Washington, D.C. area. MoveOn, the national grassroots organization, and Public Citizen have organized mobile billboards, while a variety of groups are ensuring that senators hear from their constituents.
Last week, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) and all Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee boycotted the vote on all five nominees to the Board of Governors while spouting nonsensical accusations against Sarah Bloom Raskin, the nominee for vice chair for supervision.
Ms. Bloom Raskin has already been confirmed twice by the Senate, unanimously, to serve at the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department, where she led the Department’s efforts to forge a global consensus on cybersecurity in the financial system. She also steered the state of Maryland as its chief financial regulator through the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath.
The committee will pick up the nominations of Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chairman, Lael Brainard as vice chair, Sarah Bloom Raskin as vice chair for supervision, and economists Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as governors, next Wednesday.