What was anticipated to be a tense meeting went more smoothly than expected Thursday as Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen easily navigated a hearing with the Senate Banking Committee.
"There weren't any real surprises. Janet Yellen in her big moment in the spotlight was calm and composed. Not a lot of real knock-down, drag-out confrontations between she and some of the senators." (Via Bloomberg)
Yellen, a 67-year-old veteran of the Fed, faced questions about federal stimulus, banking regulations and the financial crisis. (Via U.S. Federal Reserve)
But not exactly the "grilling" many expected from Republicans. (Via Forbes)
Instead she stuck to what many see as the party line for the Fed — defending the $3 trillion stimulus in the wake of 2008's financial crash.
"Under the wise and skilled leadership of Chairman Bernanke, the Fed helped stabilize the financial system, arrest the steep fall in the economy, and restart growth." (Via C-SPAN)
Yellen also faced questions from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren about the role the Fed can play to prevent further economic disasters. (Via Senator Elizabeth Warren)
"One of our top priorities now is ramping up our monitoring of the financial system as a whole, to detect financial stability risks." (Via YouTube / Senator Elizabeth Warren)
And spoke about unemployment as another one of her top priorities.
Quoted by CNN, she said, "We know that those long spells of unemployment are particularly painful for households. So I consider it imperative that we do what we can to promote a very strong recovery."
Currently the vice chair of the Federal Reserve, Yellen was nominated for the position by President Obama back in October. (Via The White House)
If she's confirmed, Yellen would replace current Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke when his term ends Jan. 31, 2014. She would also be the first woman ever to lead the central bank.
