Boxer, Feingold Oppose Another Bernanke Term

Two Democratic senators said today they won't vote to reappoint Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman. Barbara Boxer and Russell Feingold added to the groundswell of opposition imperiling a second 4-year term for Bernanke, which requires 60 votes. “Our next Federal Reserve chairman must represent a clean break from the failed policies of the past,” Boxer said. “It is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed.”

Four senators—three Republicans and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Dems—have placed a hold on the confirmation of the Fed chief, meaning he must get 60 votes. Harry Reid has hinted that a surprising number of Democrats privately oppose the nomination and has asked Mitch McConnell to count Republican votes, the New York Times reports. In a sign of the general uncertainty, Reid did not say until today that he supports the reappointment, and McConnell has not indicated how he will vote. (More Ben Bernanke stories.)