The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee effectively blocked a planned Tuesday vote on President Joe Biden’s five nominees for the Federal Reserve amid efforts to stall Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination as the vice chair for supervision.

“We’re seeking answers,” Senator Patrick Toomey said. “Until basic questions have been adequately addressed, I do not think the Committee should proceed with a vote on Ms. Raskin.”

The Pennsylvania Republican has been weighing having GOP members sit out a vote Tuesday on sending it to the floor, according to three people familiar with the discussions. He told reporters the votes are unlikely.

Republicans have questioned Raskin’s previous role as a director of Reserve Trust, a fintech company that obtained a Federal Reserve master account while Raskin was serving on its board. The Pennsylvania Republican also has criticized Raskin over her views on mitigating the financial risks of climate change.

Toomey’s move would deny Democrats a quorum to move forward.

Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown said Tuesday he and Toomey had agreed to the timing for votes on the Fed nominees three weeks ago and said he hopes Republicans don’t delay votes on them and postpone confirmations.

Two people familiar with the discussions said Republicans hope Democrats will agree to set aside Raskin’s confirmation vote and move forward with the other nominees for now. A threat to deny a quorum is sometimes used as a negotiating tactic by the minority party, but it’s not clear yet whether other committee Republicans will go along.

Denying a quorum also would delay confirmation votes on Biden’s other nominees, including Jerome Powell for another term as chair, Lael Brainard as vice chair and Philip Jefferson and Lisa Cook as Fed governors. Powell and Jefferson are expected to get bipartisan backing in the committee and on the Senate floor for confirmation. Brainard and Cook also have faced Republican criticism.

If Democrats stick together, they still can force confirmations over Republican objections on the Senate floor. But a floor maneuver like that would likely have to wait until New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan returns to the Capitol after recovering from a stroke. Lujan said in a video Sunday that he expected to be back at work in the 50-50 Senate in a “few weeks.”

Toomey on Friday accused the Fed of stonewalling his requests for information about Raskin’s role in securing approval of the master account for Reserve Trust.

Raskin said in written answers she could not remember whether she helped the company get a master account, but has agreed to stringent ethics standards in responses to the committee, including not seeking employment at a financial services company for at least four years after leaving the Fed.

A co-founder of Reserve Trust vouched for Raskin’s conduct last week.

Raskin’s previous confirmations to the Fed board and as deputy secretary of Treasury weren’t contentious, but her advocacy for the Fed and other regulators to act on climate risks has prompted opposition from the oil and gas industry.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he opposed putting Raskin in a job “with major unilateral power” and urged Biden to find a “better, more mainstream” nominee. McConnell said Raskin has argued openly that unelected Fed governors can declare an ideological war against fossil fuels.

“Fed governors are supposed to be neutral regulators,” he said on the Senate floor.

With Cook, an economist and the first Black woman nominated to the Fed, Republicans questioned her knowledge of monetary policy and how she would respond to inflation.

Democrats on the committee have been unified in support of Biden’s nominees.

Raskin mollified moderate Democrats like Montana Senator Jon Tester by saying the Fed’s job was not to allocate capital, nor would it restrict banks from financing particular industries like oil and gas.

“I think she’s gonna be fine. I mean, she’s absolutely qualified for the job,” Tester said Monday night.

--With assistance from Laura Litvan.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.