Lisa Cook becomes the first Black woman appointed to the federal reserve’s board
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Vice president Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote this week during a Senate panel hearing in Washington in favor of Ga. native Lisa Cook to the Federal Reserve Board, making her the first Black woman to hold the position.
All 50 Democratic Senators voted in favor of confirming Cook. All 50 Republican senators were opposed. Prior to the vote, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said GOP criticisms that Cook was unqualified and unprepared for the position were unfounded as he cited the Milledgeville native’s resume: Spelman College graduate, Truman Scholar, and tenured professor in economics and international relations at Michigan State University.
Said Brown, “She’ll protect the Fed’s independence; she knows workers drive economic growth. She, like the president, understands you put workers at the center of our economy — that’s the kind of Fed governor she’s going to be.”
Cook’s confirmation was delayed for weeks as Republicans used procedural tactics, including the filibuster, to slow down the process.
Recent delays were the result of Covid, which several Democratic Senators and Vice President Harris came down with. Democratic leaders knew they needed the presence of every Democratic member to confirm Cook.
n a post on Twitter, Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock celebrated Cook’s confirmation saying “I was proud to cast my vote for Dr. Cook. Her decades of experience as an economist and her Georgian sense of fairness will help promote balance and innovation to strengthen our economy.”
Cook will join the Federal Reserve Board at a crucial time of skyrocketing inflation and with its members tasked with crafting a U.S. monetary policy that leads prices to stabilize without throwing the nation into a recession.
