Senator Richard Shelby, the chairman of the US Senate Banking, is starting to work on the 16 nominees of the Obama administration in different key positions in government. The confirmation hearing of two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees will start on March 15.
Shelby started to work on the process of the nominees right after he won in Alabama which will put him in Senate for another term. Shelby's committee will ask Lisa Fairfax and Hester Pierce regarding their SEC positions as well as Matthew Jeppson as director of the US Mint, says Reuters.
According to Market Watch, the hearing will be a first step towards the nomination of Fairfax and Pierce since their nomination by President Barrack Obama during the fall. It may also be a signal to the panel to work out on the nomination logjam that has held up a number of Obama nominees to significant financial regulatory post.
As reported by The Hill, aside firm the SEC nominees, there are two other nominees to join the Federal Reserve as well as Adam Szubin who was nominated by the president to work with the Treasury Department's top official regarding issues of terrorism and financial crimes. The banking committee is yet to announce its nominees. Nominations for Federal Reserve Board governors and a U.S. Export-Import Bank board member are still available.
According to experts without the EXIM board member approved, the trade bank cannot approve loans higher than $10 million. The bank can't close the deal for Boeing Co commercial aircraft and also deals with major power equipments manufactured by General Electric.
Former Community banker Allan Landon and Kathryn Dominguez, an economist of the University of Michigan, both a fed nominee, would complete the central bank's seven board members. A lot of nominees have given off their chance for confirmation due to the testy relationship between the feds and the Congress.