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Bernanke Likely Has Votes to Gain Second Term: Analysis
Published: Saturday, 23 Jan 2010 | 10:46 PM ET Text Size By: Steve Liesman
Senior Economics Reporter


AP
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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke likely has enough votes to overcome a filibuster and gain approval for a second term, according to several leading Senators and an analysis by CNBC of how lawmakers will likely vote.

The analysis also showed Bernanke would win confirmation with bipartisan support, although he will likely register more opposition than any Fed chairman in recent history.

Calls by CNBC to all 100 senators over the past two days found 36 in favor and 18 opposed, with the remaining undeclared. See a detailed tally of yes/no votes in the chart below.

But if the vote of the undeclared 46 senators is the same by party as those who have declared, Bernanke would garner 67 votes in favor, more than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. He needs 51 to win approval.


The CNBC tally shows that, among the senators who have declared, 71 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of Republicans currently supporting Bernanke.

Bernanke's chances got a boost late Friday when majority leader Harry Reid declared his support.

Late Saturday, Democratic Senator John Kerry joined Reid, saying, “Chairman Bernanke provided leadership that was urgent, nimble, strong and vital in staving off greater disaster."

Republican Senator Judd Gregg and Democratic Senator Chris Dodd in a joint statement insisted that the Fed Chairman has the votes: "Based on our discussions with our colleagues, we are very confident that Chairman Bernanke will win confirmation by the Senate for a second term.”

CNBC found 22 Democratic Senators in favor, compared with 9 opposed. Republican support, not evident yesterday, became more apparent on Saturday, with 13 Republicans voicing support and 8 opposing.


Senate Vote On Bernanke So Far
Senator Yes No
Daniel Akaka (D) HI X
Lamar Alexander (R) TN X
Max Baucus (D) MT X
Evan Bayh (D) IN X
Michael Bennet (D) CO X
Bob Bennett (R) UT X
Jeff Bingaman (D) NM X
Barbara Boxer (D) CA X
Sherrod Brown (D) OH X
Jim Bunning (R) KY X
Richard Burr (R) NC X
Thomas Carper (D) DE X
Susan Collins (R) ME X
Kent Conrad (D) ND X
Bob Corker (R) TN X
Mike Crapo (R) ID X
Christopher Dodd (D) CT X
Jim DeMint (R) SC X
Chris Dodd (D) CT X
Byron Dorgan (D) ND X
Dick Durbin (D) IL X
Russ Feingold (D) WI X
Lindsey Graham (R) SC X
Judd Gregg (R) NH X
Orrin Hatch (R) UT X
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) TX X
James Inhofe (R) X
Dan Inouye (D) HI X
Tim Johnson (D) SD X
Ted Kaufman (D) DE X
John Kerry (D) MA X
Herb Kohl (D) WI X
Jon Kyl (R) AZ X
Mary Landrieu (D) LA X
Frank Lautenberg (D) NJ X
Joseph Lieberman (I) CT X
Richard Lugar (R) IN X
Claire McCaskill (D) MO X
Jeff Merkley (D) OR X
Barbara Mikulski (D) MD X
Harry Reid (D) NV X
James Risch (R) ID X
Bernie Sanders (I) VT X
Charles Schumer (D) NY X
Jeff Sessions (R) AL X
Jeanne Shaheen (D) NH X
Richard Shelby (R) AL X
Arlen Specter (D) PA X
Jon Tester (D) MT X
Mark Udall (D) CO X
David Vitter (R) LA X
George Voinovich (R) OH X
Mark Warner (D) VA X
Jim Webb (D) VA X
Roger Wicker (R) MS X
TOTAL 36 18
*Does not include undecided senators
Source: CNBC


© 2010 CNBC.com


23rd jan 2010

Two Senior Senators Predict Bernanke Will Be Confirmed
Published: Saturday, 23 Jan 2010 | 5:16 PM ET Text Size By: Sewell Chan and David M. Herszenhorn
The New York Times
Two senior senators, a Democrat and a Republican, jointly issued a statement Saturday predicting that the Senate will confirm Ben S. Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, hoping to quell doubts that had shaken markets and forced the White House to scramble to keep him from becoming a casualty of populist anti-Wall Street fervor.

AP
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Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Democrat from Connecticut who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican who is a longtime member of the panel, said in their statement that “based on our discussions with our colleagues, we are very confident that Chairman Bernanke will win confirmation by the Senate for a second term.”

The senators referred to recent media reports “highlighting a very vocal opposition.” Two Democratic senators facing tough re-election races had announced at the end of the week they would be among those who would oppose Mr. Bernanke, and his prospects for winning the needed 60 votes suddenly were clouded.

Mr. Dodd, who recently decided to retire as his own re-election looked doubtful, and Mr. Gregg, who also is retiring, not only forecast Mr. Bernanke’s approval but also provided a fulsome endorsement.

“Chairman Bernanke has done an excellent job responding to one of the most significant financial crises our country has ever encountered,” they said. “We support his nomination because he is the right leader to guide the Federal Reserve in this recovering economy.”


In the mobilization on Mr. Bernanke’s behalf, the White House had by Friday night secured public support from the wavering Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, the Democrat who has his own tough reelection contest in Nevada, along with several moderate Senate Democrats and circulated word of the support for Mr. Bernanke from respected billionaire Warren Buffett.
But even then Mr. Reid’s statement was remarkably unenthusiastic. After meeting with Mr. Bernanke on Thursday, Mr. Reid warned: “The American people expect our economic leaders to keep Wall Street honest and level the playing field for middle-class families.”

And in his statement Friday, Mr. Reid said he had decided to support Mr. Bernanke with trepidation and only after he received a commitment that the Fed chairman would take additional steps to increase the flow of credit to middle-class Americans.

While some Republicans were certain to oppose Mr. Bernanke, the minority leadership had its own strategic calculations to make.


Rejecting Mr. Bernanke, a Republican economist who was named chairman by President George W. Bush in 2005 and took over in 2006, could lead Mr. Obama to appoint someone from the ranks of Democratic economists that Republican lawmakers find less appealing. And if markets swooned, Republicans would share in the blame.

But even if the nomination is approved, the spasm of anxiety surrounding it will have highlighted how members of both parties are reassessing their stands on many issues as they try to understand the strain of anger toward the government, Wall Street and other institutions.

In the days since the Democrats lost a crucial Senate seat in Massachusetts, Mr. Obama has struck a tougher tone toward big banks. In the process he signaled a shift away from less aggressive regulatory policies backed by another architect of the bailout, Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary. On Friday in Ohio, Mr. Obama took a combative approach on health care reform and banking regulation.



But Mr. Obama cannot afford a failed nomination — the Senate has never before rejected a president’s nominee for Fed chairman — and he has publicly and privately backed Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Geithner for their roles in stabilizing the financial system and averting what could have been a wholesale collapse.



ON FRIDAY,22nd jan 2010--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bernanke Vote: 'Unthinkable Has Become a Possibility'
Published: Friday, 22 Jan 2010 | 5:55 PM ET Text Size By: Reuters
Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, once seen as a sure thing, appeared in jeopardy on Friday after two more Senate Democrats said they would vote against it.

"I believe there will be the votes to confirm him. But it's going to be very close," a senior Democratic leadership aide said.
AP

With the U.S. job market in disarray and voters angry at Wall Street, members of Congress facing mid-term elections in November have come down hard on the central bank and its leadership. See the latest tally of announced voting decisions in the chart on page 2 of this story.

They say the Fed failed to prevent the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and combated the meltdown in a way that favored the financial sector at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Senators Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold brought the total of known "no" votes among the Democratic majority to four, while many others have said they were still on the fence.

"Our next Federal Reserve chairman must represent a clean break from the failed policies of the past," Boxer said. "It is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed."
The shift comes rather abruptly, and has added a new element of uncertainty to a stock market that had already been reeling in recent days. The S&P 500 fell into the red for the year on Friday, joining the Dow and Nasdaq indexes.

"The unthinkable has become a very real possibility—risks are rising that the Senate will unseat (him)," said Michael Feroli, economist at JP Morgan.

Chris Krueger of Concept Capital, a private firm that tracks Congress for institutional investors, said he sees a 55 percent chance Bernanke will not be reconfirmed.

In-trade, an online betting platform, now shows just a 68 percent chance the Fed Chairman will be confirmed, down from 95 percent just a few days back.



Several Republicans have already come out against him and some have moved to block his confirmation, forcing Senate leaders to secure a super-majority of 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to move the nomination.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., one of four Republicans to side with Bernanke in the Senate Banking Committee, has said that while he wants to support him and is carefully examining Bernanke's record, he reserves the right to vote against him.

"Senator Corker for voted Chairman Bernanke out of committee, and since that time he has had numerous conversations with Bernanke and Fed officials and has visited the Fed to review the AIG documents," Corker spokeswoman Laura Herzog told CNBC. "He will make his final decision before the floor vote occurs, but generally feels the same way he did the day of the committee vote."