Trump's Fed pick Herman Cain looks to be doomed in Senate
President Trump’s picks for the Federal Reserve Board appear to be running into a brick wall: the U.S. Senate. If a nomination vote were held today, Herman Cain would not be confirmed by the Senate. At least four Republicans in that chamber have said publicly that they would either oppose or lean towards opposing the confirmation of the former Republican presidential candidate and business executive. Multiple Republicans told the Washington Examiner they would either vote or lean no on Cain, while few have expressed outright support for Moore. That indicates an extremely narrow path for the nominees. Neither is expected to win any support from Democrats.
The failure to confirm Cain, 73, and possibly Trump’s other pick, conservative economic analyst and activist Steve Moore, could stymie the president’s call for lower benchmark interest rates from the central bank. On Wednesday Trump told reporters that he wasn’t sure about Cain’s nomination, which the White House has not submitted to the Senate. “As to how he's doing in the process, that I don’t know,” Trump told reporters, per a White House transcript. “But Herman is a great guy, and I hope he does well.”
Sen. John Thune R-S.D., the chief Republican vote counter in the chamber, indicated that both Cain and conservative activist and economic analyst Steve Moore would face an uphill climb if the White House moves forward.
“I don’t know the answer to that but we have tried to indicate what some of the obstacles could potentially be based on feedback from some of our members,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune R-S.D., the chief Republican vote counter in that chamber. “You know when they float names and ideas out there we get a pretty good sense quickly about what the chances of confirmation are for some of their nominees, so hopefully before they formally nominate them they’ll take that under consideration.” Trump caught Senate Republicans– and at least one of his anticipated nominees–off-guard with his announcements that he planned to nominate Cain and Moore. Neither nominee has been fully vetted by the administration yet, and the White House had not sought input from Republicans in the Senate whose votes Trump will need to advance the picks.
Sen. Mitt Romney R-Utah, a former financial executive and Republican presidential nominee when Cain also ran in 2012, briefly confirmed that he would not support Cain if the White House formally submits him. Sens. Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, and Cory Gardner R-Colo., have also said that they plan to oppose Cain. At least one Republican Senate Banking Committee member, Sen. Kevin Cramer R-N.D., suggested he would likely oppose Cain. “I’m glad I don’t have to vote today,” said Cramer with regards to Cain. “I would be a lean no, that’s for certain.” Cramer spoke more favorably of Moore, and said that he didn’t think Moore’s disputes with the IRS and his ex-wife over reported delinquent payments related to a home sale and his divorce would necessarily disqualify him.
Other Republicans were quick to note that the White House had yet to formally nominate either Moore or Cain, and declined to say whether they would support either until the White House submitted their papers. Moore appears to have more fans in the Senate, thanks in large part to being plugged into conservative activist political circles in Washington. “I actually know Steve Moore pretty well and I think that his supply-side and pro-growth views would be a constructive addition to the discussion at the Fed,” said Sen. Pat Toomey R-Pa., a member of the Banking Committee and Moore’s successor as president of the conservative political organization the Club for Growth. “I don’t know enough about Herman Cain to have an opinion.”
Aside from vetting of personal issues, the pair’s views on the benchmark lending rate that the Fed sets will be a factor. Cramer, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee that considers Fed nominees, said he doesn’t necessarily agrees with Trump’s call for lower interest rates, which Moore and Cain has echoed. “I’m probably in the camp that thinks that the Fed raised rates too fast last year,” said Cramer. “That said, the Federal Reserve, as a board, they’re the experts. They have the access to all of the research and the experts.” But Cramer added: “I don’t think that an opinion one way or the other is going to disqualify a person, unless we’re just going to have robots do these jobs.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/trumps-fed-pick-herman-cain-looks-to-be-doomed-in-senate