Key Vote Alert – Senate – “NO” on Confirmation of Janet Yellen to be Secretary of the Treasury

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Club for Growth strongly opposes the confirmation of Janet Yellen to be Secretary of the Treasury. Her confirmation will be considered soon in the United States Senate. The result of the vote will be included in the Club for Growth Foundation’s 2020 Congressional Scorecard.

Janet Yellen’s nomination to be Secretary of the Treasury reminds the American people of the policies that created a slow economic recovery from the Great Recession and the dismal growth during the Obama years. While she served in an “independent role” at the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, she is a partisan that has been repeatedly nominated throughout her career by Democrat Presidents Clinton, Obama, and now Biden.

In 2021, Yellen still supports the tired ideas like stimulus spending from previous administrations, but is also openly embracing new tax schemes, including her support for a carbon tax. Yellen told the Senate she is “fully supportive of effective carbon pricing and I know that the President is as well,” The plan supported by Yellen would create a $40 per metric ton carbon tax and provide for 5 percent increases each subsequent year to achieve a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2035. In the 10th year of the carbon tax, the tax would become $65.15 per metric ton, and if the plan started in 2021, the $40 carbon tax would nearly double to $79.20 per metric ton by 2035.

The carbon tax will eliminate jobs in the energy sector. Along with Biden’s executive order to ban new fracking on federal lands and his agenda to eliminate fossil fuels, it is clear the anti-energy independence policies of the Biden Administration will impact all workers and consumers.  From employment levels and job creation, to transportation costs and energy efficiency policies – the sign is clear: The Biden Administration is working to enact as much of the Green New Deal as possible to change the economy forever.

Yellen’s support for Biden to rejoin the Paris Agreement is another example of the Left’s petulance toward punishing entrepreneurship and innovation in America. The Paris Agreement will destroy international competition in markets. Many businesses are highly efficient and doing great things to limit pollution in America. The Paris Agreement will cause many job creators to go out of business. Innovation in America is spurred by low levels of regulation. Additionally, the Biden Administration’s executive order to require federal agencies to reverse hundreds of deregulatory actions undertaken by the Trump Administration is an enormous economic mistake that will badly damage the U.S. economy.

Economic policies are largely administered and negotiated by top Cabinet Officials and White House staffers, including the Treasury Secretary, so this nomination is critical in the path forward for the recovery of the U.S. economy. A carbon tax will punish U.S. job creators and U.S. workers while emboldening economic international competitors.

The socialist economic schemes envisioned by the Biden Administration will bring Yellen to the negotiating table with other Cabinet Secretaries, world leaders, and Members of Congress. Yellen will work with liberals in Congress to redistribute wealth through tax increases by negotiating the rolling back of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Rather than increasing taxes, the Biden Administration should reduce the taxation burden on U.S. taxpayers.

None of these actions supported by Yellen will benefit the U.S. economy. The Biden agenda is projected to hurt economic growth in many key industries and sectors of the economy. One area that is not projected to get cut is the federal government. At a time when the economy is struggling due to a pandemic, the size, scope, and cost of the federal government has grown immensely. Americans now see the impact of government more closely through the transparency of government stifling economic liberty. Policies that allow for economic freedom and prosperity should be pursued because they will grow the economy, restore employment in America, and return business activity to pre-COVID levels.

Club for Growth Foundation’s Congressional Scorecard for the 116th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to the public.

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Vote Results

Club Position

No

Required for Majority

1/2

Vote Results

Nomination Confirmed

Vote Number

6

Vote Date

January 25, 2021

Vote Counts

YEAs:

84

NAYs:

15

Not Voting:

1

Name

State

Party

Vote Position

Tammy Baldwin

WI

D

Yea

John Barrasso

WY

R

Nay

Michael Bennet

CO

D

Yea

Marsha Blackburn

TN

R

Nay

Richard Blumenthal

CT

D

Yea

Roy Blunt

MO

R

Yea

Cory Booker

NJ

D

Yea

John Boozman

AR

R

Nay

Mike Braun

IN

R

Yea

Sherrod Brown

OH

D

Yea

Richard Burr

NC

R

Yea

Maria Cantwell

WA

D

Yea

Shelley Moore Capito

WV

R

Yea

Benjamin Cardin

MD

D

Yea

Thomas Carper

DE

D

Yea

Bob Casey

PA

D

Yea

Bill Cassidy

LA

R

Yea

Susan Collins

ME

R

Yea

Christopher Coons

DE

D

Yea

John Cornyn

TX

R

Yea

Catherine Cortez Masto

NV

D

Yea

Tom Cotton

AR

R

Nay

Kevin Cramer

ND

R

Nay

Mike Crapo

ID

R

Yea

Ted Cruz

TX

R

Nay

Steve Daines

MT

R

Yea

Tammy Duckworth

IL

D

Yea

Richard Durbin

IL

D

Yea

Joni Ernst

IA

R

Yea

Dianne Feinstein

CA

D

Yea

Deb Fischer

NE

R

Yea

Kirsten Gillibrand

NY

D

Yea

Lindsey Graham

SC

R

Yea

Chuck Grassley

IA

R

Yea

Bill Hagerty

TN

R

Yea

Maggie Hassan

NH

D

Yea

Josh Hawley

MO

R

Nay

Martin Heinrich

NM

D

Yea

John Hickenlooper

CO

D

Yea

Mazie Hirono

HI

D

Yea

John Hoeven

ND

R

Nay

Cindy Hyde-Smith

MS

R

Yea

James Inhofe

OK

R

Yea

Ron Johnson

WI

R

Yea

Tim Kaine

VA

D

Yea

Mark Kelly

AZ

D

Yea

John Kennedy

LA

R

Yea

Angus King

ME

I

Yea

Amy Klobuchar

MN

D

Yea

James Lankford

OK

R

Yea

Patrick Leahy

VT

D

Yea

Mike Lee

UT

R

Nay

Ben Lujan

NM

D

Yea

Cynthia Lummis

WY

R

Yea

Joe Manchin

WV

D

Yea

Edward Markey

MA

D

Yea

Roger Marshall

KS

R

Yea

Mitch McConnell

KY

R

Yea

Robert Menendez

NJ

D

Yea

Jeff Merkley

OR

D

Yea

Jerry Moran

KS

R

Yea

Lisa Murkowski

AK

R

Yea

Christopher Murphy

CT

D

Yea

Patty Murray

WA

D

Yea

Thomas Ossoff

GA

D

Yea

Alex Padilla

CA

D

Yea

Rand Paul

KY

R

Nay

Gary Peters

MI

D

Yea

Rob Portman

OH

R

Yea

Jack Reed

RI

D

Yea

Jim Risch

ID

R

Nay

Mitt Romney

UT

R

Yea

Jacky Rosen

NV

D

Yea

Mike Rounds

SD

R

Yea

Marco Rubio

FL

R

NV

Bernie Sanders

VT

I

Yea

Ben Sasse

NE

R

Yea

Brian Schatz

HI

D

Yea

Chuck Schumer

NY

D

Yea

Rick Scott

FL

R

Nay

Tim Scott

SC

R

Yea

Jeanne Shaheen

NH

D

Yea

Richard Shelby

AL

R

Nay

Krysten Sinema

AZ

D

Yea

Tina Smith

MN

D

Yea

Debbie Stabenow

MI

D

Yea

Dan Sullivan

AK

R

Nay

Jon Tester

MT

D

Yea

John Thune

SD

R

Yea

Thom Tillis

NC

R

Yea

Pat Toomey

PA

R

Yea

Tommy Tuberville

AL

R

Nay

Chris Van Hollen

MD

D

Yea

Mark Warner

VA

D

Yea

Raphael Warnock

GA

D

Yea

Elizabeth Warren

MA

D

Yea

Sheldon Whitehouse

RI

D

Yea

Roger Wicker

MS

R

Yea

Ron Wyden

OR

D

Yea

Todd Young

IN

R

Yea

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