Feinstein: Woman for Fed chief would be ‘very positive’ sign

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Sunday touted Janet Yellen for Federal Reserve chairman, saying that the selection of a woman for the post would be a “positive” for the Obama administration. 

Feinstein signed on to a letter last week with fellow Democrats urging Obama to tap Yellen, currently the central bank’s vice chairman.

{mosads}“I was asked to sign and I signed, because I have met Janet Yellen on two occasions. I have followed her. She’s very well thought of,” said Feinstein on CNN’s “State of the Union.”  “She knows the Fed, and she’s very highly qualified. And I think a woman as head of the Federal Reserve, a qualified woman, would be a very positive thing for this administration.”

Yellen and Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and Obama economist, are seen as the frontrunners for the Federal Reserve job. Current Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to leave when his second term ends on Jan. 31. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi last week also weighed in on the decision, saying it would be “great to have a woman – first woman chairman of the Fed, no question about it.”

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday declined to share any insight into the selection, saying he would keep his conversations with Obama “private.” 

“I think that those conversations are best left in the privacy of the Oval Office,” said Lew on ABC’s “This Week.”