Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho declined to reveal his stance on Moore citing his role as head of the panel, but he said that filling the open position on the Fed board of governors is a high priority. “It will receive prompt attention,” he said.
Two past targets of his barbs, Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine say they have questions about his credentials and past positions, but didn’t rule out supporting a nomination of Moore.
“It certainly from what I’ve read is an unconventional nomination and I would need to see how he did at the hearings and learn more about him before I could make a judgment,” Collins said.
Among her reservations: Moore urging Trump to fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for raising interest rates. “The Federal Reserve is supposed to be independent, so that does concern me,” she said. “And from what I’ve read he also wants to return to a gold standard. I’m not sure what the implications are of that.”
Romney wouldn’t say whether he would support or oppose Moore.
“I will look at all the elements of his background to determine whether he’s qualified to serve on the Fed,” Romney said. “I’ll make that decision after I’ve done that.”
Intraparty Fight
Moore has been in the middle of a decades-long intraparty divide between conservative Republicans and those he’s deemed “RINOs” -- Republicans In Name Only.
He once dismissed Collins as part of “the last dying gasp of dinosaur Northeastern Republicans.” And shortly after the 2016 election, Moore criticized the notion that Romney could be the president-elect’s pick for secretary of state, saying it would be a “betrayal” for those who supported Trump since Romney had strongly opposed his candidacy.
Club for Growth