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