Wyoming Sen Cynthia Lummis intends to block Powell and Brainard’s nominations over their ‘political approach’ to crypto.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis said the nominations of Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard to the Fed stand in the way of crypto adoption. The Republican from Wyoming has told others to block the nominations, Decrypt reported.
She said Powell missed the perfect opportunity to “promote responsible financial innovation.” Â The Republican senator, Cynthia Lummis, from Wyoming, said the nominations of Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard to the Federal Reserve stand in the way for the adoption of crypto.
Powell who got nominated last week for another term as Federal chairman, with his current term which would expire in February. Brainard, was nominated to serve as a vice chairman.
But in a Tuesday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Lummis said, “Unfortunately, over the past year my faith in the Fed has been deeply shaken by its political approach to digital assets in my home state, Wyoming, greatly contributing to my concerns over President Biden’s nominees, Jay Powell and Lael Brainard.”
She has been encouraging senators to block Powell and Brainard’s Fed nominations, Decrypt reported, citing a source in Lummis’ office. But the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio, wants to move quickly on confirming the nominees, according to Bloomberg.
In Wyoming,  multiple crypto-friendly state laws have been passed, crypto banks called Special Purpose Depository Institutions are in limbo as they wait for the Federal Reserve to process their applications, Lummis wrote, noting Kraken and Avanti received their bank charters in the state in 2020.
“While Mr. Powell and Ms. Brainard have said they want to promote responsible financial innovation, when Wyoming provided a perfect opportunity the Fed instead inexplicably chose to ignore its legal obligations,” she said, they should address the delay before Congress.
Lummis and the Federal Reserve did not respond straightaway to Insider’s request for remark. Lummis which is known as a crypto advocate in Congress. In August, she bought at least $50,000 worth of bitcoin when it slumped, and her campaign accepted bitcoin contributions.
