Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, listens during a Senate Small Business Committee hearing on coronavirus relief aid and “Implementation of title I of the CARES Act.”, in Washington, U.S., June 10, 2020.
Al Drago | Reuters
Sen. Mitt Romney plans to vote against the controversial nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve, the Utah Republican told reporters Thursday.
Speaking just two days after Shelton secured key Senate banking committee approval, Romney said he won’t join his party in supporting the nomination from president Donald Trump.
“I’m not going to be endorsing Judy’s Shelton’s nomination to the Fed,” Romney told reporters, according to an account in The Hill. “I will be voting against her.”
Romney’s opposition means that if three more GOP senators defect, that would kill the nomination to the central bank’s board of governors.
Romney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Shelton received committee approval by a razor-thin 13-12 party-line vote. Her nomination, which Trump announced more than a year ago, ran into trouble over past views she has espoused on the gold standard, Fed independence and insurance of bank deposits, among other things.
That Romney would oppose the nomination is not entirely surprising given his contentious relationship with Trump. It’s not clear whether anyone will join him, though Shelton did receive intense questioning from both parties at her February confirmation hearing.
By contrast, her fellow nominee, St. Louis Fed Vice President Christopher Waller, saw little scrutiny, though seven Democrats did vote against him in committee.
If both are confirmed, that would fill out the balance of the Fed governorships, six of which would be named by Trump.