Senate confirms appointment of Brainard, Powell to Fed board, Fischer as vice chair

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate confirmed Thursday the appointment of Stanley Fischer as the Fed vice chair and Lael Brainard and Jerome Powell as Fed governors.

Fischer, who was confirmed to the Fed board last month, was approved at the Fed's No. 2 in a 63-24 vote. Brainard's nomination passed the Senate in a 61-31 vote, whereas Powell got his second term on the Fed after a 67-24.

With the confirmation of Brainard and Powell, the Fed has filled five of the seven seats on its board. The appointments come just days before the Fed is scheduled to have its June policy meeting. Apart form their testimonies before the Senate, it is unclear how they will vote on key policy issues including the rollback of the Fed's bond buying program and increase in main interest rates.

"We won't really know until they start to go out and make speeches," said Ira Jersey, a New York-based U.S. interest-rate strategist at Credit Suisse Group.

The White house hasn't announced who will be nominated to the remaining two spots on the Fed. Fed Chair has said that she would like to see a community banker on the board after the departure of Elizabeth Duke and Sarah Bloom Raskin, both with similar experience.