Sarah Bloom Raskin withdraws Fed board nomination over her climate change stance

Sarah Bloom Raskins, nominated by President Joe Biden to succeed Randal Quarles as vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve, withdrew her nomination on March 15, 2022. She cited her advocacy for climate change as the issue for her withdrawal. People are attacking her claim that her advocacy is going to tarnish the economic stability in the coming years.

She was the second in command at Treasury, and no one knew better than Sarah Bloom Raskins how important the Federal Reserve position was in order to maintain fighting inflation and economic recovery. Sarah Bloom Raskin had attracted criticism from Senate Republicans for arguing that bank regulators should pay more attention to the financial risks posed by climate change.

The statement given by the President was that the Senate Republicans were more focused on propagating false claims and protecting special interests than taking important steps toward addressing inflation and lowering costs for the American people.


Raskin's withdrawal paves the path for four other Fed nominations, which include Jerome Powell for a second term as the central bank's chair. Republicans might still try to be an obstacle to Biden's other picks, including Lael Brainard, an ex-Fed governor, to be the central bank's vice chair, and Michigan State University's Lisa Cook, who will be the Fed Board's first Black female member. Toomey has said he opposes both of them.

According to Raskin, their point of contention was her frank public discussion of climate change and the economic costs associated with it. She also stated the same in her resignation letter. It was neither a novel nor a radical position she wrote. Adding to this, climate change cannot be an obstacle in the lists of obstacles for the Fed, and they should consider ensuring financial and economic stability.

Disclaimer: This content is authored by an external agency. The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). ET does not guarantee, vouch for or endorse any of its contents nor is responsible for them in any manner whatsoever. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that any information and content provided is correct, updated and verified. ET hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, relating to the report and any content therein.