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(Image source: Bloomberg / Andrew Harrer)
BY CHRISTIAN BRYANT
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration for the
next Federal Reserve Chairman Sunday.
Summers, who was seen as the lead candidate to take over for current Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke, said in a statement to President Obama, "I have reluctantly concluded that
any confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interests of the Federal
reserve, the Administration, or ultimately, the interest of the nation's ongoing economic
recovery." (Via World Economic Forum, The Washington Post)
President Obama accepted Summers' withdrawal, saying the former Treasury Secretary was an
integral part in helping guide the Obama administration after the Great Recession. (Via The White
House)
Summers and current Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen were considered frontrunners
to take Bernanke's place after he steps down in January. But Summers was thought to be
President Obama's top pick.
Despite the president's blessing, many Senate Democrats on the Banking Committee voiced
their opposition to Summers heading the Federal Reserve, including John Tester of Montana,
Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
According to Politico, "Liberal Democrats' chief complaint with Summers has been the
role he played in deregulating financial markets when he served as Treasury Secretary during
the Clinton administration."
National Journal writer Michael Hirsch says the case against Summers is based on his actions
over the past 20 years, writing: "As a government official, he helped author a series of ultimately
disastrous or wrongheaded policies, from his big deregulatory moves as a Clinton administration
apparatchik to his too-tepid response to the Great Recession as Obama's chief economic
adviser."
Summers' withdrawn nomination leaves two other candidates to possibly head the Federal Reserve
Yellen and her predecessor Donald Kohn. If Yellen is selected, she will be the first
woman to lead the organization in its 100-year history.