White House senior advisers voiced confidence on Sunday that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be confirmed by the Senate for a second term. "The president is very confident that the chairman will be confirmed," David Axelrod said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.
In a sign of concern about a recent surge of opposition to Bernanke's renomination, President Barack Obama contacted the Democratic Senate leadership on Saturday to make sure there were enough votes. "The readings he's getting from his conversations are that Chairman Bernanke will be confirmed," Axelrod said.
Another senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, echoed Axelrod's comments and said the level of confidence within the White House was very high. Obama heard from Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid that there is a lot of support for Bernanke, Jarrett said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, also told "Meet the Press" he believed Bernanke would win bipartisan support, but would not say whether he would vote for the central banker.
Bernanke's second term suddenly appeared at risk on Friday after two Senate Democrats announced their opposition. With mid-term elections in November, many lawmakers are unwilling to take any stand that appears to benefit Wall Street. That tendency has only been sharpened since this week's Republican upset for the Massachusetts Senate seat that had been a Democratic stronghold for decades.
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