White House Confident Bernanke Will Get a 2nd Term

White House officials expressed confidence Sunday that the Senate will vote to confirm Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term despite a public backlash about Wall Street and handling of the nation's financial industry that has unsettled some lawmakers.

Two Democrats up for re-election this year -- California's Barbara Boxer and Wisconsin's Russ Feingold -- announced this week they would vote against Bernanke and, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a statement of support, it was lukewarm at best.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 16 to 7 on Thursday to send his nomination to the floor but that was in contrast to the near unanimous approval the panel gave him when he was first named to the job by former President Bush.

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Obama, said on CNN's State of the Union that "the president is very confident that the chairman will be confirmed."

Axelrod said Obama believes Bernanke "has been a very steady hand in this crisis. He has taken initiatives that have been very important in terms of stabilizing the economy. And we need his continued leadership."

Another senior White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, said on NBC's Meet the Press that "President Obama checked in with the leadership over the weekend and he heard from Senator Reid, that there is a lot of support for Ben Bernanke. We are confident that the chairman will be confirmed."

On NBC's Meet the Press, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would not reveal how he would personally vote on Bernanke, but said "He's going to have bipartisan support in the Senate and I would anticipate he'd be confirmed."

Concerns that Bernanke's reappointment would be blocked and reaction to proposals by the Obama administration to put new restrictions on banks combined this week to drive the Dow Jones Industrial average down four points, the biggest drop in almost a year.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, said on CNN Sunday he disagreed with some of Bernanke's actions, but he would support him.

"This man knows what he's doing," said Hatch. "Can he improve? You bet your life. But I'm going to vote for him." Hatch also said, "I'd be terrified of having him replaced by this administration. You never know what you're going to get."

However, on Fox News Sunday, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he would oppose Bernanke's reappointment because he had "presided over what is a crisis of confidence of the American people due to a lack of transparency and accountability with regard to the bailouts and other activities by the Federal Reserve."

Cornyn said Bernanke "should have seen it (last year's financial meltdown) coming" and added, "I think has contributed a lot to the problems that he then was required to help try to clean up."

Sen. John McCain said on CBS' Face the Nation that he was leaning against Bernanke. "I'm worried that if his nomination is turned down, the effect that it might have. But the fact is that Chairman Bernanke was in charge when we hit the iceberg. And his policies were partially responsible for the meltdown that we experienced. I think that he should be held accountable."