President Barack Obama will appoint Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen as the central banks new leader on Wednesday.
Yellen, who will replace current chair Ben Bernanke when his term ends in January, will be the first woman to hold the position and the first Democrat to run the Fed in almost 30 years, according to the New York Times.
No woman has held such a top position in the Fed; the closest was when President Bill Clinton appointed Laura D'Andrea Tyson as part of his council of economic advisors, shortly after nominating Yellen to the Fed's board of governors in 1994.
Yellen has served as CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2004 to 2010 and as governor of the Federal Reserve Board during the Clinton years and has spent more than 20 years as a top federal official.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deliberation, which began last June, and included the President's former economic advisor Lawrence Summers, has been more public than usual, comparing Summers and Yellen as leaders. Before dropping out on Sept. 15 because of opposition from Democratic senators, Summer's "combative" style was scrutinized againsts Yellen's mild-mannered demeanor.
Yellen has been an advisor to current chair Bernanke from her position as vice chair since 2010, and has also been a strong supporter of Bernanke and the Fed's easy money efforts aimed at economic growth.
"She makes an argument on the merits and she sticks with it," Alan S. Blinder, an economics professor at Princeton and former Fed vice chairman told the Times. "And she's good at articulating an argument in a way that doesn't leave people on the other side hopping mad at her."
The New York Times reported that as chairwoman, Yellen would lead a divided committee of 19 policy makers and would make the decision of how quickly to wind down the Bernanke's expansionary monetary policy, although it might be shut down before Bernanke's term ends. Before Yellen, a Brooklyn native, can take her seat, a senate confirmation is needed and because of the government shutdown and fiscal issues there's no set date for the hearings to begin.
Yellen may need 60 votes, including a number of Republican votes, to be confirmed. Democrats hold 52 seats in the Senate, and the chamber's two independents often vote with the Democrats, according to the Times.
