Fed nominee pushes back against GOP claims of anti-oil bias

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key nominee to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors has said in testimony before a Senate panel that she would not make it harder for any industry to obtain bank loans. President Joe Biden nominated Sarah Bloom Raskin to be the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, the nation’s top bank regulator. She’s a former Fed governor and deputy Treasury Secretary. But Republicans have charged that Bloom Raskin’s previous statements on climate change suggest she would use her position at the Fed, if confirmed, to discourage banks from lending to oil and gas companies.