Yellen Confirmed as Fed Chair Despite Knee-Jerk Republican Opposition

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Janet Yellen has been confirmed as Fed chair with 56 votes. Bad weather kept a lot of senators out of town, but even if everyone had been present she would have gotten no more than about 66 votes:

It is the thinnest margin of Senate approval for a Fed chairman in the central bank’s history. Mr. Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as chairman with 70 yes votes and 30 no votes in 2010.

Only 11 Republicans voted for Yellen’s confirmation, despite the fact that she’s perhaps the best qualified nominee in history; has demonstrated considerable foresight during her term as vice-chair; and almost literally has provided no reason to vote against her. But it doesn’t matter. She’s Obama’s nominee, so she has to be opposed. If Republicans want to know why Democrats finally got fed up enough to change the filibuster rules, this vote speaks louder than any words possibly could.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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