Janet Yellen, the former Chair of the Federal Reserve, is one step closer to earning the nomination of Treasury Secretary.

The Senate Committee on Finance voted unanimously to corroborate Yellen'southward nomination Fri morning, setting the stage for a full Senate vote. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said he hoped the GOP's backing would signal "bipartisan" back up under the new Democratic administration.

Swain Republicans said they backed Yellen despite disagreeing on several of her policy stances. The general consensus was that she was exceptionally qualified for the job.

Commission members hoped for a total Senate vote to confirm Yellen's appointment on Fri but as of publication time, that has yet to materialize.

If confirmed as Treasury Secretary, Yellen would become a primal fellow member of President Biden's Cabinet and will human action as a principal adviser on economic problems and fiscal policy. She would besides exist the first woman to occupy the post.

At her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Yellen called for "big activity" on the Covid-19 crunch. She said:

"Economists don't always agree, simply I think there is a consensus now: Without further activeness, we risk a longer, more painful recession now — and long-term scarring of the economy later."

Yellen headed the Federal Reserve between 2014 and 2018, becoming the start woman to do so. Under her leadership, the central bank fabricated its showtime attempt at normalizing monetary policy — an initiative that was afterwards concise nether Jerome Powell.

The cryptocurrency industry has been following Yellen'due south nomination process closely. The onetime Fed chief has given mixed signals on digital assets. On one hand, she has touted Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital avails as an of import innovation in optimizing global transactions. On the other, she has raised concerns over crypto's role in money laundering and illicit financing.

The final days of the Trump administration induced heavy anxiety for the cryptocurrency industry after and so-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to fast-track new regulations targeted self-hosted crypto wallets.

In his starting time day in role, President Biden placed a full general freeze on all federal-bureau rulemaking, effectively blocking several Trump-era policies from advancing. The proposed crypto wallet regulation was among them.