ADVERTISEMENT

Key GOP Senator Shelby Undecided on Fed Board Nominee Shelton

Key GOP Senator Shelby Undecided on Fed Board Nominee Shelton

(Bloomberg) -- Alabama Republican Richard Shelby, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, said Wednesday he remains undecided on whether to support Judy Shelton, President Donald Trump‘s controversial nominee to the Federal Reserve board of governors.

Shelby met briefly with Shelton and Fed board nominee Christopher Waller late Tuesday.

Key GOP Senator Shelby Undecided on Fed Board Nominee Shelton

“The other nominee is OK,” Shelby said, referring to Waller. “He hasn’t brought a cloud of dust with him.”

The senator said he wants to support Shelton because she is the president’s choice, but he warned her she will face tough questions at a Banking Committee hearing on Thursday.

“Let’s see how she does at the hearing,” Shelby said.

Shelton in the past has advocated returning the dollar to the gold standard. Shelby said this week such a view is outside the mainstream.

“We might as well go back to the barter system,” he told reporters.

A single “no” vote on the Banking Committee is enough to block the Shelton nomination, assuming Democrats are united in opposition. Shelby, a former chairman of the Banking Committee, is well respected in the Republican conference.

The Banking Committee’s chairman, Mike Crapo, said Wednesday he supports Shelton’s nomination after he met with her and she answered all of his questions satisfactorily. The Idaho Republican said he didn’t want to speculate on the odds for any nominees to be confirmed, and in the case of Shelton, he said senators are “identifying whether there are legitimate concerns that could cause a delay.”

On Tuesday, Utah Republican Mitt Romney also expressed doubts about Shelton. Four Republican “no” votes would likely be needed to block her nomination on the Senate floor.

--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis.

To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net;Nancy Ognanovich in Washington at nognanovich2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna Edgerton

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.