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
Y
Michael Bennet
CO
D
Y
Richard Blumenthal
CT
D
Y
Cory Booker
NJ
D
Y
Sherrod Brown
OH
D
Y
Maria Cantwell
WA
D
Y
Benjamin Cardin
MD
D
Y
Thomas Carper
DE
D
Y
Bob Casey
PA
D
Y
Christopher Coons
DE
D
Y
Catherine Cortez Masto
NV
D
Y
Tammy Duckworth
IL
D
Y
Richard Durbin
IL
D
Y
Dianne Feinstein
CA
D
Y
Kirsten Gillibrand
NY
D
Y
Maggie Hassan
NH
D
Y
Martin Heinrich
NM
D
Y
John Hickenlooper
CO
D
Y
Mazie Hirono
HI
D
Y
Tim Kaine
VA
D
Y
Mark Kelly
AZ
D
Y
Amy Klobuchar
MN
D
Y
Patrick Leahy
VT
D
Y
Ben Lujan
NM
D
Y
Joe Manchin
WV
D
Y
Edward Markey
MA
D
Y
Robert Menendez
NJ
D
Y
Jeff Merkley
OR
D
Y
Christopher Murphy
CT
D
Y
Patty Murray
WA
D
Y
Thomas Ossoff
GA
D
Y
Alex Padilla
CA
D
Y
Gary Peters
MI
D
Y
Jack Reed
RI
D
Y
Jacky Rosen
NV
D
Y
Brian Schatz
HI
D
Y
Chuck Schumer
NY
D
Y
Jeanne Shaheen
NH
D
Y
Kyrsten Sinema
AZ
D
Y
Tina Smith
MN
D
Y
Debbie Stabenow
MI
D
Y
Jon Tester
MT
D
Y
Chris Van Hollen
MD
D
Y
Mark Warner
VA
D
Y
Raphael Warnock
GA
D
Y
Elizabeth Warren
MA
D
Y
Sheldon Whitehouse
RI
D
Y
Ron Wyden
OR
D
Y
Angus King
ME
I
Y
Bernie Sanders
VT
I
Y
John Barrasso
WY
R
N
Marsha Blackburn
TN
R
N
Roy Blunt
MO
R
Y
John Boozman
AR
R
N
Mike Braun
IN
R
Y
Richard Burr
NC
R
Y
Shelley Moore Capito
WV
R
Y
Bill Cassidy
LA
R
Y
Susan Collins
ME
R
Y
John Cornyn
TX
R
Y
Tom Cotton
AR
R
N
Kevin Cramer
ND
R
N
Mike Crapo
ID
R
Y
Ted Cruz
TX
R
N
Steve Daines
MT
R
Y
Joni Ernst
IA
R
Y
Deb Fischer
NE
R
Y
Lindsey Graham
SC
R
Y
Chuck Grassley
IA
R
Y
Bill Hagerty
TN
R
Y
Josh Hawley
MO
R
N
John Hoeven
ND
R
N
Cindy Hyde-Smith
MS
R
Y
James Inhofe
OK
R
Y
Ron Johnson
WI
R
Y
John Kennedy
LA
R
Y
James Lankford
OK
R
Y
Mike Lee
UT
R
N
Cynthia Lummis
WY
R
Y
Roger Marshall
KS
R
Y
Mitch McConnell
KY
R
Y
Jerry Moran
KS
R
Y
Lisa Murkowski
AK
R
Y
Rand Paul
KY
R
N
Rob Portman
OH
R
Y
Jim Risch
ID
R
N
Mitt Romney
UT
R
Y
Mike Rounds
SD
R
Y
Marco Rubio
FL
R
A
Ben Sasse
NE
R
Y
Rick Scott
FL
R
N
Tim Scott
SC
R
Y
Richard Shelby
AL
R
N
Dan Sullivan
AK
R
N
John Thune
SD
R
Y
Thom Tillis
NC
R
Y
Pat Toomey
PA
R
Y
Tommy Tuberville
AL
R
N
Roger Wicker
MS
R
Y
Todd Young
IN
R
Y