of the reserve by a vote of 84-13. he is a fine choice to lead the federal reserve system. he has received accolades from across the political spectrum. he joined the board of governors of the federal reserve in 2012 and he's demonstrated an expert grasp of monetary policy and a commitment to improve the fed's accountability to the public. i look forward to his service in this new position. the position of fed chairman is integral to the health of the u.s. economy. washington must empower the american people to create prosperity through sound policy that gets the government out of the way of workers and job creators. jay powell is up to the task. i was proud to confirm him yesterday. the senate advanced the nomination of another highly call fied nomee, alex -- qualified nominee, alex azar. mr. azar discussed his intention to confront head-on the opioid crisis that is hurting so many families across the country, including in my home state of kentucky. he made clear that he will place an important priority on education and enforcement to halt the advance of the scourge. but he recognizes that we need effective, compassionate treatment options for those seeking recovery

congressman politicians the bureaucrats is warning and so this is probably bad stuff stay away from it you know i mean i read a statement from from a federal reserve member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system that they said look our payment systems are perfectly fine they're very very very good. and they're going to get better and so we don't we don't need block train we don't need cryptocurrency is we've got a perfectly good system that's ridiculous and they've got a model t. compared to the miles are already and the guy surely knows that yeah so what i agree with you is if you're going to be celebrating technology jeffrey let me ask you one more question before we run out of our a lot of time here so last time we spoke you talked about you know counter party risk and that would be one of the reasons why. the digitals hadn't been adopted into you know taking a credit card a bitcoin card or whatever ripple card and using it for a cup of coffee but one area of regulation that does involve counterparty risk is the futures industry which at the end of two thousand and seventeen both chicago board options exchange and it's called a mercantile group started trading

. >> this morning we will consider the nomination of the honorable jerome or j powell to be chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. governor powell, welcome and cleationings on your nomination. i see friends and family behind you and i welcome them here today as well. and public and private success tore career and financial services, he served as an assistance secretary and undersecretary of the treasury under president jorntle h. w. bush and financial institutions and a treasury debt market and understand experience in investment banking and was a partner at the carlisle group before board of governors in 202 during years of service in government and in the private sector governor powell has proven he's qualified to lead the fed. if confirmed he will play an important role in striking the the proper balance between the need for a safe and sound financial system and the need to promote a vibrant growing economy. over past year i've seen regulators carefully and evaluate current law and regulationings. governor powell has shared specific areas in the past where the fed believes some u laws and regulations c

provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jerome h. powell to be chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the scwe is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of jerome h. powell of maryland to be chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 84. the nays are 12. the motion is agreed to. the senior senator from the state of south dakota. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that not withstanding rule 22 at 5:00 p.m. all postcloture time be considered expired and the senate vote on confirmation of the powell nomination, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the

of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system. jerome h. powell of maryland to be chairman of the board of governors. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: unanimous consent the -- no. no quorum. thank you, mr. president. now, yesterday the senate passed a continuing resolution to open the government and provide for a six-year reauthorization of the children's health insurance program. the majority leader and i were also able to agree on a path forward for the daca legislation. the continuing resolution extends government funding until february 8. if an agreement on daca isn't reached by february eight, the senate will immediately proceed to immigration under a neutral process that is fair to all sides. this is the first guarantee that the republican majority will give the daca bill a fair consideration and an up-or-down vote on the floor. and it means we can hopefully resolve the fate of the dreamers much sooner than the march 5 deadline. so the republican majority now has 16 days to work with us to write a bill that can get 60 votes and prevent the

the senate is voting on confirmation of jerome powell as federal reserve chairman. he is current member of the federal reserve boards of governors and former private equity investor and treasury official. we'll keep an eye on that for you. >>> another text between fbi agent peter strzok and lisa page has emerged with strzok expressing concern about joining robert mueller's russia investigation team. >> this is what strzok texts page, quote, you and i both know the odds are nothing. if i thought it was likely there would be no question. i hesitate in part because my gut sense and concern, there's no big there there. ashley: no big there there, joining me former trump 2016 deputy campaign manager and co-author of let trump be trump. david bossie joins us now. david, so strzok here who is supposed to be heading up the investigation already believed there was no there there. objectivity not exactly a rampant among this investigation. another example, right? >> yeah, we have a lot of problems in this investigation, clearly, but that is actually a contemporaneous note to his colleague who is having an affair with, at the same time, we

the chair of the federal market committee beginning on february 3 powell will be sworn in as chair of the board of governors or chairman of the board of governors on february 5. the federal reserveepeated that it expects the economy to evolve in a way that will warrant further raises in the federal funds rate or gradual rate hikes it upgraded the economy a bit. more confident in the inflation outlook as well. it said gains in employment, household spending, and business investment have been solid that's an upgrade for two of those measures labor market continues to strengthen economic activity is rising at a solid rate unemployment stayed low. on the issue of inflation a little bit more confident in the outlook. saying that it expects inflation to evolve in a way that it begins to rise in the next 12 months expected to move up this year and stabilize around 2% over the medium term. risks are roughly balanced and the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and the fed funds are likely to remain for some time below levels expected to prevail in the longer run so the economy continuing to maintain gradual rate hikes in the months ahead and putting the fed chairman jerome po

of electing the fed governor jeromej. powell. they sit the rates that's effective february 3rd. powell would formally be sworn in for the other role, chairman of the federal reserve boardf governors on february 5th. the yellen era ends with five hikes in the books, first five in nine years and suggested the powell era begins by resuming a slow hike of rate hikes. >> thank you for more on this, let's bring in former dallas fed president and cnbc contributor, richard fisher, and julia coronado here at post nine welcome to you both. richard, what do you think the significance is as janet yellen leaves this fed? we're not going to know yet, right? we don't know until the end of the cycle and how well or poorly it ends. think about the way people talked about greenspan when he left versus after the crisis, right? >> the word that came to me in the statement was the word "solid" over and over and over again. she did a solid job as chair started the exodus as we called it in the fmoc, five straight increases, clearing a path to e repair the balance sheet, but leading up to that she's done a great job no market turbulence until recently she's going to escape the fed as having

provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move bring to a close debate on the nomination of jerome h. powell to be chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve system signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. ayes do have it. the motion is carried. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 597, alex azar. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. ayes appear to have it. ayes do have it. the motion is granted. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of health and human services, alex michael azar ii of indiana to be secretary. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators no accordance with the rules of -- move to bring to a close debate on the nomination o