Merkley will vote against Bernanke

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said on Wednesday that he would vote against confirming Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Merkley is a first-term senator from Oregon who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which will vote on Bernanke's confirmation on Thursday morning.

Merkley's announcement is the latest indication of how contentious Bernanke's confirmation has become compared with the typically non-controversial votes the Senate holds on Fed appointments. Most analysts expect Bernanke to be confirmed, and many Democratic and Republican senators have voiced their support.

However, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jim Demint (R-S.C.) and David Vitter (R-La.) have said they would put holds on Bernanke's confirmation. A coalition of outside interests groups from the left and right is urging lawmakers against Bernanke's confirmation, while Time magazine has named him "Person of the Year."

“I will vote against confirming Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve," Merkley said in a statement. "The reason, in short, is that as Chairman, Dr. Bernanke failed to recognize or remedy the factors that paved the road to this dark and difficult recession."

Merkley singled out lapses in regulation of credit cards, consumer loans, predatory mortgage loans, capital requirements and derivatives.

"As a member of the Board of Governors, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and then ultimately as Chairman of the Board of Governors, Dr. Bernanke supported each of these decisions, failing  to take the necessary precautionary steps that could have averted or mitigated financial collapse," Merkley said.

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