U.S. senator Susan Collins says to vote against Fed board nominee Judy Shelton

U.S. senator Susan Collins said on Monday that she will vote against Judy Shelton's nomination to the Federal Reserve's board of governors, becoming the second Republican senator to oppose President Donald Trump's controversial nominee.

"I have serious concerns about this nomination. In her past statements, Ms. Shelton has openly called for the Federal Reserve to be less independent of the political branches, and has even questioned the need for a central bank," Collins said in a statement.

"This is not the right signal to send, particularly in the midst of the pandemic, and for that reason, I intend to vote against her nomination if it reaches the floor," she said.

Collins's statement came after Mitt Romney, a Republican senator from the state of Utah, told reporters last week that he was not going to be endorsing Shelton's nomination to the Fed board.

Trump announced his intention to nominate Shelton, a conservative economist who advised Trump's 2016 presidential bid, for a vacancy on the Fed's board of governors.

The Senate Banking Committee last week approved Shelton's nomination by a party-line vote, with all Democrats on the panel opposing her nomination, sending it to the full Senate for confirmation.

"My colleagues and I were concerned about Dr. Shelton's qualifications and commitment to helping working families, and her independence from the president," said Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

If the Senate's Democrats and independents all vote against Shelton's nomination, her confirmation could be doomed if she loses the support of four Republicans, according to The Washington Post.

(CGTN)