Bernanke’s Confirmation Support Runs 3-1 in Favor in Senate

By Scott Lanman

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. senators are backing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for a second term by a 3-to-1 margin, based on a count of 77 lawmakers by Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg yesterday interviewed 53 senators who aren’t on the Banking Committee, which voted 16-7 on Dec. 17 to recommend Bernanke’s nomination to the full Senate. Twenty-one lawmakers said they are inclined to vote for Bernanke, while four said they would oppose the central bank chief, giving him 37-12 support so far for a four-year term starting Feb. 1. Another 28 said they’re undecided or declined to comment.

California Democrat Dianne Feinstein and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham were among senators saying they’ll support Bernanke, citing his response to the financial crisis. Senators from both major parties said they expect him to be confirmed, even with at least four lawmakers trying to block or delay the nomination.

“We were on the verge of a Great Depression, and I think he and others came up with some monetary policies that prevented us from going into a depression,” said Graham, who also backs a broad audit of the central bank. “He is worthy of renomination.”

Of the 77 senators who have voted, spoken with Bloomberg or publicly commented on their views, 43 are Democrats, 33 are Republicans and one is an independent. Democrats support Bernanke by a 26-1 margin, while Republicans are split 11-10 in the Fed chief’s favor. The chamber has 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans and two independents.

Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent who isn’t on the banking panel, previously announced his opposition to Bernanke, saying he would try to block the nomination.

After Jan. 19

A vote will occur sometime after Jan. 19, Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said last week.

During a Dec. 3 hearing by Dodd’s panel, Bernanke, 56, faced criticism of the Fed’s bank oversight while gaining support for a second term. Dodd credited Bernanke with preventing a financial meltdown, while saying the Fed’s oversight of banks before the crisis was an “abysmal failure.”

Four Republicans -- John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Roger Wicker of Mississippi -- said they were inclined to oppose Bernanke.

“He hasn’t been effective enough in pointing out the reckless spending and financial policies of our Congress and our government,” Sessions said. “I don’t have anything against him personally, but there needs to be some accountability around here.”

Jeff Merkley of Oregon remains the only Democrat to announce his opposition to the Fed chief.

Majority Vote

While the nomination requires a majority vote for approval, the Senate would need 60 votes to break the procedural holds. The Senate has 100 members, two from each U.S. state.

Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, said Bernanke has “done as good a job as he could. And I would be a little bit concerned by who would replace him.”

“He’s done an impressive job under extremely difficult circumstances,” said Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat from New Mexico.

Extrapolating the current vote count for the entire Senate would yield about 25 “no” votes, a total that probably wouldn’t trigger declines in stock or bond markets or cause investors to question the Fed’s political support, said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York.

“The market could deal with that,” said Feroli, a former Fed researcher. “If you got closer to 35 or 40, I think that’s worrisome.”

Decide to Oppose

Once a majority materializes for Bernanke, senators, especially those who are up for re-election next year, may decide to oppose the Fed chief, said Tom Gallagher, head of policy research at International Strategy and Investment Group Inc. in Washington.

“It’s fair to say that the safe vote on Bernanke is to vote ‘no’ on the losing side,” said Gallagher, a former congressional aide.

Bernanke was named “Person of the Year” last week by Time magazine after leading the biggest expansion of the central bank’s powers in its 96-year history to respond to the crisis. The Fed is phasing out many of its emergency programs by Feb. 1.

Feinstein said Bernanke shouldn’t be blamed for the troubles in the economy. “This thing was a long time coming, and to put it all on Bernanke is a mistake,” she said. “It’s a combination of a lack of regulation over a substantial period of time.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net.