Janet Yellen, a key force behind the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented and controversial efforts to boost the U.S.economy, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday to lead the central bank just as it begins to unwind that stimulus.
When she succeeds Ben Bernanke, whose second four-year term as Fed chairman expires on January 31, Yellen will become the first woman to run the Fed in its 100-year history and just one of a handful of women heading central banks globally. She is currently the Fed’s vice chair.
The vote to approve her was 56-26. She won resounding support from Democrats, who were joined by 11 Republican senators. All of the no votes came from Republicans — a sign of discomfort with the U.S. central bank’s unconventional policies as well as the partisan rancor in the Senate against any of President Barack Obama’s nominees.
Yellen’s rise to the top of the world’s most influential central bank marks an important milestone for women, long under-represented in the field of economics and finance.
“She is breaking an incredibly important glass ceiling,” Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, a liberal group that advocates for gender equality, told a foreign news agency.
