Thread by @StevenTDennis

Pat Toomey rallies Republicans against what he calls "mission creep" at the Fed, including a push by Democrats to weigh in with new regulations on climate risk. "I don’t think there should be a Politburo that gets to allocate capital in America." bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Toomey has opposed Sarah Bloom Raskin over her previous calls for regulators to act on climate and complained the Fed has gotten behind the curve on inflation while wading into areas like racial justice and education policy not in their purview.

Toomey's now leading a blockade of Raskin in a dispute about the answers he says the Senate should be able to get from the Fed and Raskin about her role in Colorado firm Reserve Trust getting a master account at the Fed.

That Reserve Trust dispute has tangled up all five Fed nominations, including now-acting Fed Chair Powell's renomination. Toomey is willing to allow votes on the rest, but Sherrod Brown doesn't want to let minority control agenda.

In meantime the Fed board has four members, not 7. That doesn't block changes in monetary policy but likely postpones an overhaul of regulations by Biden's new team.

Brown sees the fossil fuel lobby at work in the GOP blockade; noting they fund R campaigns and oppose Raskin.
Toomey, who is retiring this year, says senators should be able to get answers from Fed nominees and from the Fed.

While Toomey backs Powell's renomination, he has criticized him for allowing what he considers to be the politicization of the Fed on his watch, particularly at regional banks. (Toomey has floated restructuring them, subjecting to FOIA, etc.)

Toomey has called Raskin a textbook case of revolving door Dems like Elizabeth Warren normally rail against. Warren noted Raskin has agreed to more-stringent-than-the-law anti-revolving-door rules along with all the other noms *except Powell*, who Toomey supports.

To be cont'd...