Well, that was something you don't see every Thursday night — The White House, in an unusual move after a week of terrible headlines on inflation, voting rights and vaccine mandates, sent three highly anticipated Fed nominees to the Senate. The names weren't surprising — the president will tap Sarah Bloom Raskin, the former deputy Treasury secretary and Fed governor, to be the Fed's top bank supervisor. And he'll pick Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson, academics with a strong focus on labor markets, to two other vacancies on the central bank's board. (Kudos to WSJ for earlier reporting on Raskin, and scooping Jefferson's candidacy.) The picks, which the White House had been promising to announce since early December, drew praise from progressive groups, economists and even some Republicans, as well as some early skepticism. Kevin Hassett, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration who has known Jefferson for 30 years, said he is "a first-class scholar, and former Fed economist who is supremely well-qualified to be a governor. He will very likely receive broad bipartisan support in the Senate." "Bloom Raskin and Dr. Cook are the kind of leaders the Federal Reserve needs to guarantee that the economic recovery works for all people," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute, a progressive think tank. "Lisa Cook can bring a valuable longer-run and comparative perspective to the Board during these difficult and in some ways unprecedented times," said Harvard University economist Larry Katz . "Lisa Cook also has a strong international policy background and much experience. Phillip Jefferson brings a strong background and understanding of research on inequality, poverty, the uneven impacts across different communities of macroeconomic policies, and of crucial measurement and econometric issues." A couple of thoughts on the latest round of nominees: — If they are confirmed, this would be the most diverse Fed board ever. Cook, a Michigan State University professor, and Jefferson, a professor and administrator at Davidson College, would be only the fourth and fifth Black Americans to ever serve on the Fed board. Cook would be the first woman of color. It would also mean four women are serving on the Fed board at once. It's a big win for advocates like Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who have pushed for more diversity among the central bank's top ranks. — This would return the board to full strength for the first time in years. The last time the Fed board had a full slate of seven members, Raskin was still on the board! The year was 2013: Ben Bernanke was the chair and Janet Yellen was his No. 2. Rounding out the other four spots were Elizabeth Duke, Jeremy Stein, Dan Tarullo and one Jerome Powell. Bernanke left the board in 2014, Yellen was promoted, and Stanley Fischer joined as Yellen's vice chair. Around the same time, Duke, Stein and Raskin also departed, and Lael Brainard joined. But at the end of the Obama administration, two vacancies remained unfilled. Within a year, Fischer and Tarullo left the board. Former President Donald Trump replaced Yellen with Powell, leaving him with five vacancies to fill. He managed to get only four nominees through the Senate — Randal Quarles, Richard Clarida, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller. — Raskin is likely to face stiff opposition from the GOP. Senate Republicans this week grilled Brainard over her views on Fed independence, climate change and employment. But they may be holding their real fire for Raskin, an aggressive regulator who has pressed for tougher oversight of Wall Street and called on financial regulators to do more to combat climate change. "Sarah Bloom Raskin has specifically called for the Fed to pressure banks to choke off credit to traditional energy companies and to exclude those employers from any Fed emergency lending facilities," Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the top Republican on the Banking Committee, said Thursday. "I have serious concerns that she would abuse the Fed's narrow statutory mandates on monetary policy and banking supervision to have the central bank actively engaged in capital allocation. Such actions not only threaten both the Fed's independence and effectiveness, but would also weaken economic growth." But Duke, a community banker who served on the Fed board with Raskin, told MM: "The characterization of Sarah Bloom Raskin as someone who will use the powers of the Fed for political purposes is simply false. I saw every day Sarah's commitment to the Fed's dual mandate, its independence, and its culture of collegiality. It would be contrary to her nature to do anything else." IT'S FRIDAY — I don't know about you all, but we'll be sleeping a lot easier this weekend. We'll also be taking a break Monday for the holiday, but we'll see you all back here Tuesday morning! Meanwhile, send your tips and takes to kdavidson@politico.com or aweaver@politico.com, or share on Twitter @katedavidson and @aubreeeweaver. | 
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