How Kamala and the coronavirus tanked Trump's Fed pick

Senate Republicans had no votes to spare to confirm Judy Shelton, and then the pandemic hit home.

By Burgess Everett & Marianne Levine @ Politico.com, Nov. 17

Vice President Mike Pence has salvaged some of President Donald Trump’s most contentious nominees. But on Tuesday, it was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking the deadlock to tank a top Trump pick.

Just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Harris and her police escort arrived at the Capitol after hours of uncertainty over whether she’d appear. The California senator then strode to the Senate floor to provide the decisive vote against Federal Reserve nominee Judy Shelton. Pence wasn’t even in the building.

"The irony is her voting kept Pence from voting,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), an aggressive critic of Shelton’s and the top Democrat on the Banking Committee. Had Harris missed the vote, Pence could have broken a 48-48 tie.

While Republicans have the option to bring Shelton back up later this week, the failed floor vote was a rare setback for a Trump nominee under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s stewardship. Republicans were noncommittal on whether there would be another attempt after Tuesday’s failed effort to break a filibuster.

The defeat stemmed not just from Harris’ appearance, but opposition from Trump’s own party and a pandemic that had long threatened Senate Republicans’ agenda and which finally derailed a top Trump priority [....]