Cook Confirmed as First Black Woman on Federal Reserve Board

Economist Lisa Cook will be the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve board of governors after winning Senate confirmation by the narrowest possible margin Tuesday.

The 51-50 vote required a tie-breaking appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Absences caused by Covid-19 cases among Democrats in the evenly divided Senate had delayed Cook’s confirmation vote, as well as those of President Joe Biden’s two other Fed picks, Jerome Powell for another term as Fed chair and Philip Jefferson as a governor.

Lisa Cook

Photographer: Ken Cedeno/Reuters/Bloomberg

Cook, a professor at Michigan State, had faced a united GOP campaign against her, with the ...