“No one deserves more credit than President Yellen for the longest economic expansion in American history,” said Wyden, who was appointed to head the Senate Finance Committee, which voted unanimously on Friday to advance his nomination.
The Senate’s total vote was 84 to 15, making Yellen the first woman to head the Treasury. She received support from most Republicans, including minority leader Mitch McConnell.
“I have strong disagreements with Dr. Yellen in a number of her positions, especially in the area of tax policy, but she has pledged to work with us on these issues and the concerns we have,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said on Friday after voting for her on the committee: “I think the strong vote on our side to support her today is an indication that we want to engage.”
The head of the Treasury has a broad influence on the government, with a key role in defining the government’s stance on taxes, economics and financial regulation, while acting as an international diplomat with participation in trade negotiations and sanctions policy.
But the immediate focus will be to contain the economic pain of the pandemic, which claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans and forced the closure of companies across the country.
“The pandemic caused widespread devastation,” Yellen told the committee at its hearing. “Entire industries have stopped their work. Eighteen million unemployment claims are being paid every week. The food bank shelves are getting empty. The damage was enormous and, as the President-elect said last Thursday, our response must also be. ”
She suggested last week that the Biden government will wait until the economy gets stronger before pushing tax increases on richer Americans and companies. Yellen said the government would move to raise taxes for other things, such as a plan to increase spending on infrastructure, which would follow the coronavirus relief legislation.
In the meantime, the government will have to design a course on how to deal with China; President Donald Trump stepped down with tariffs still in effect on more than $ 350 billion in Chinese products, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that have been implemented through his national security authorities.
Yellen told senators that the Biden government would use all available tools to tackle China’s unfair trading practices, but did not approve of Trump’s tariff tactics.
It is also under pressure from the left to focus on the interconnections between the financial system and climate change. Yellen said he plans to start a new “center” of the Treasury that would examine the financial system risks arising from climate change and related tax incentives. She plans to appoint a “high-level” official to lead climate efforts.
In written responses to senators released on Thursday, Yellen endorsed the idea of a higher minimum wage, a position strongly supported by the left.
“Raising the minimum wage will lift tens of millions of Americans out of poverty and, at the same time, expand access to opportunities for countless small businesses across the country,” she wrote. “It is important how this is implemented, and the president’s minimum wage will be applied gradually over time, giving small businesses enough time to adapt.”