The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Lisa Cook as the first Black woman to join the Federal Reserve Board.
Vice President Kamala Harris broke the 50-50 Senate tie, bringing to a close a nomination that started in January. Cook faced hurdles along the way, including a boycott by Senate Banking Committee Republicans, a tied committee vote and a floor vote to discharge the nominee, and a cloture vote in late April derailed by pandemic-related Democratic absences.
“Republicans have done all they could to block it and block her, as they have with a number of accomplished Black women,” Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in an interview. “It’s been a year of Republican diversionary tactics, boycotts, and digging in and opposition to her and to several others.”
