WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama phoned Senate allies Saturday as two key senators predicted that embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be confirmed for a second term.
Obama made calls from the White House to members of the Senate leadership and others and was assured Bernanke would win confirmation, a senior White House official told The Associated Press.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Bernanke confirmation by the end of this week, said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Meanwhile, Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and former Senate Budget Committee chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said Saturday that Bernanke is the right person to help guide the economy back from the worst recession since the 1930s.
Bernanke’s term ends Jan. 31.
Already four Senate Democrats have said they would vote against the Fed chairman.
