Rand Paul Might Hold Up Yellen's Fed Nomination

Janet Yellen is still expected to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but CNBC reports that she might hit some turbulence in the Senate thanks to Rand Paul. He's threatening to do what he can to hold up the nomination unless he gets a vote on his Fed transparency bill—a measure long championed by his Fed-hating dad, Ron Paul, that would require a full audit of the agency. Still, Paul would need 40 fellow senators to block the nomination, and that doesn't look likely.

Some reaction:

• Bad move: Financial markets hiccupped today on just the rumor of such an action, writes Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly. And "if Paul follows through on his threat, it will indicate either a strong fidelity to his old man’s agenda, or some serious jealousy of Ted Cruz’ growing reputation as the wild man of the Senate."
• Good move: Cedric Muhammad at Forbes thinks Paul is correct and should get the support of Democrats as well. "The argument that the Federal Reserve system should be exempt from any kind of audit can only be viewed as benefiting the elite interests of a banking sector that both sides of the aisle should agree enjoys a privileged monopoly only because Congress erroneously (but not permanently) forfeited its Constitutionally-mandated authority over the nation’s finances."

(More Rand Paul stories.)