Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, led the charge against Diamond’s nomination, saying Diamond did not have the right experience to sit on the Fed board and that he believed too strongly in big government.
In his op-ed, Diamond, whose academic work has concentrated on the labor market, indicated that those who opposed him did not understand the impact of unemployment on monetary policy, and added that the confirmation process has become “distorted.”
For his part, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), the chairman of the banking panel, agreed that Diamond’s experience was relevant and that there was “no reasonable justification for blocking his confirmation.”
{mosads}“With nearly 14 million Americans unemployed, it is disappointing Republicans would rather play politics than help bring the Federal Reserve to full strength,” Johnson said in a statement.
At his briefing, Carney signaled that the White House was not surprised by Diamond’s op-ed and did not feel as if it could have done more to push through the nomination.
He added that administration would move quickly to find a new nominee: “It is vital that we have people in positions, whether it’s at the Fed or elsewhere, who are capable of fulfilling the responsibilities of the jobs that they’ve been nominated for, in the name of improving the economic situation in this country.”