Manchin comes out against Biden Fed nominee Raskin, throwing her confirmation into doubt

Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominated to be vice chairman for supervision and a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, speaks before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 3, 2022.

The most conservative Democrat in the Senate, Joe Manchin, said Monday that he opposed one of the President's nominees to the Federal Reserve, leaving her candidacy to join the central bank with the slimmest of hopes.

I have carefully reviewed Sarah Bloom's qualifications and previous public statements. Her previous public statements have failed to address my concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation's critical energy needs.

He said he couldn't support her nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. The deputy Treasury secretary in the Obama administration was a former Fed governor.

One of the most powerful banking regulators in the world, Raskin's bid to be the Fed's next vice chair for supervision, is all but doomed by Manchin's formal opposition. The odds of success for a presidential nominee are not good if the Senate splits evenly.

A White House spokesman told CNBC that Sarah Bloom is one of the most qualified people to have ever been nominated for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. We are working to get the bipartisan support that she needs so that she can be confirmed by the Senate.

Manchin, who last week said that his own party should advance Biden's four other Fed nominees without Raskin, has worked for weeks to support the U.S. energy industry as oil and gas prices climb.

Biden picked Lael Brainard as vice chair, picked Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as Fed governors, and nominated Jerome Powell to a second term as Fed chair.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) listens as U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., March 1. 2022.

His statement Monday suggested that he doesn't believe that Raskin, who has called for stronger climate policies and critiqued the energy sector, could serve on the Fed without politicizing her decisions.

The Federal Reserve Board is not an institution that should be politicized. I won't support a nominee that doesn't respect these priorities.

Many of Manchin's top donors are executives in the coal, oil and gas industries. Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips, Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, and R. Lane Riggs, the president of Valero Energy have donated to Manchin.

The GOP boycotted a vote on the president's candidates on the Senate Banking Committee because of their opposition to Raskin.

Republicans, led by Banking Committee ranking member Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, are open to holding a vote on Powell, Brainard, Cook and Jefferson. Democrats led by the White House and the committee Chairman said they would only hold a vote if all of the nominees were included.

The two sides have been at odds since February.

During her confirmation hearing, Republicans criticized her views on climate policy and the Fed's move to discourage banks from lending to fossil fuel companies.

There is a developing story. You can check back for updates.