WASHINGTON — Sen. Sherrod Brown circulated a letter yesterday calling on President Barack Obama to appoint Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The letter, written by the Ohioan and signed by as many as 20 other Senate Democrats, commended Yellen’s career, saying she has had a “solid record as a bank regulator.”
Brown’s office declined to make the letter public. However, TheWall Street Journalreported yesterday that Brown was the letter’s author.
Yellen, 66, vice chairwoman of the Fed, is competing against former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers for the position. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, served as chairman of Obama’s National Economic Council.
Brown said in the letter that Yellen is a stronger candidate because of her “significant monetary policy experience,” including as deputy under Bernanke since 2010. She previously was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
In the letter, Brown praised Yellen’s ability to recognize the housing bubble of 2008 as a national threat, saying it was a feat that “speaks to her … intellectual rigor and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom regarding deregulation — traits essential for a successful Fed chairman.”
Yellen is a 1966 graduate of Brown University and earned a Ph.D. in economics from Yale in 1971. If Yellen were to be nominated and confirmed, she would be the first female chairman of the Fed board.
Bernanke’s second term as chairman ends on Jan. 31.
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