"Any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interests of the Federal Reserve, the administration, or ultimately, the interests of the nation's ongoing recovery."
- Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
The United States Dollar was broadly lower against its major peers on Monday as one of the main candidates for Federal Reserve Chairman position stepped out of the race after facing fierce opposition from the Democratic Party. Lawrence Summers, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, is known as a decisive policy maker and was considered to be the front-runner for the position to replace Bernanke, left the race just a day ahead of the key FOMC meeting. This decision is paving the way for Janet Yellen, who is known as a supporter of a slower reduction in the Fed's monetary stimulus. Meanwhile, twenty U.S. senators have already signed a letter of support for Yellen, and in case she is nominated and confirmed, she will be the first woman to head the central bank.
At the same time, Summers move concluded an unprecedented campaign against him from Obama's own Democratic party. Several liberal and moderate Democrats expressed their concerns about Summers to the White House some time ago. The severe opposition means Summers had lost at least four Democratic votes in the 22-member Committee, and thus, will have to rely mostly on Republican votes, who are even less likely to support his nomination. Many of the U.S. policymakers are not supporting Summers because of his standing behind the massive deregulation of financial markets that had been conducted during Clinton's administration.
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