Senate Finance Committee Unanimously Approves Yellen As Next US Treasury Secretary

Muhammad Irfan Published January 22, 2021 | 10:15 PM

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen won unanimous approval from the Senate Finance Committee, which fast-tracked her confirmation as the first-ever female US Secretary of the Treasury on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen won unanimous approval from the Senate Finance Committee, which fast-tracked her confirmation as the first-ever female US Secretary of the Treasury on Friday.

The vote was 26 to zero, a virtually unprecedented indication of bipartisan Senate approval. Yellen's confirmation as President Joe Biden's first Treasury Secretary is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate this afternoon.

Both Republican and Democratic Senate leaders have said Yellen needs to be confirmed as quickly as possible to expedite work on Biden's emergency financial relief package for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Yellen previously served as the first-ever female Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She was appointed by President Barack Obama and was often publicly criticized for her cautious financial policies by his successor, President Donald Trump.

Yellen currently is a professor emerita at the Haas school of business at the University of California, Berkeley and was chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018.