While there were some concerns that due to adverse weather conditions, the Yellen vote may take longer than usual with many senators’ return to Washington D.C. delayed, for now proceedings are going according to schedule: the vote is expected to proceed at 5:30 pm Eastern, with one option being that the roll call could begin as planned, leaving the tally open for a number of hours to allow latecomers to vote. As a reminder, Yellen needs a simple majority (51 votes if no senators abstain) with Democrats holding 55 seats in the Senate, so there will be no major surprises and Yellen will receive confirmation. The only open question is how many Republicans will abstain from supporting Yellen, and whether this will surpass the previous record of 30 Senators refusing to support Ben Bernanke during his 2010 renomination.
In the meantime, the actual debate surrounding Yellen’s confirmation is set to begin at 3 pm Eastern.
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via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/5D25r7n0zFA/story01.htm Tyler Durden