Joe Manchin opposes Sarah Bloom Raskin Federal Reserve nomination

Sen. Joe Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, said Monday that he opposes one of President Joe Biden’s nominees to the Federal Reserve, leaving her candidacy to join the central bank with the slimmest of hopes.

“I have carefully reviewed Sarah Bloom Raskin’s qualifications and previous public statements. Her previous public statements have failed to satisfactorily address my concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation’s critical energy needs,” Manchin said in a statement.

“I have come to the conclusion that I am unable to support her nomination to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board,” he added.

Manchin’s formal opposition throws serious doubt on Raskin’s bid to be the Fed’s next vice chair for supervision, one of the most powerful banking regulators in the world. Raskin is a former Fed governor and served as the deputy Treasury secretary in the Obama administration.

While it’s possible she could garner support from a moderate Republican, a Senate split 50-50 means a single Democratic defection can imperil presidential nominations.

The White House said Monday that many of the most intense attacks against its candidate have come from those with close ties to the energy industry.

“Sarah Bloom Raskin is one of the most qualified people to have ever been nominated for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors,” a White House spokesperson told CNBC. “She has earned widespread support in the face of an unprecedented, baseless campaign led by oil and gas companies that sought to tarnish her distinguished career. We are working to line up the bipartisan support that she deserves, so that she can be confirmed by the Senate for this important position.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who serves as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, offered a similar outlook.

“Senator Brown is working to move forward Ms. Bloom Raskin’s nomination with bipartisan support, as Ms. Bloom Raskin has earned twice before,” Brown’s office told CNBC in an email.

Manchin, who last week said that his own party should advance Biden’s four other Fed nominees without Raskin, has for weeks worked to support the U.S. energy industry as oil and gas prices climb after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden has also nominated Jerome Powell to a second term as Fed chair, chosen Lael Brainard as vice chair, and picked Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as Fed governors. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.