MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – US Daily Brief 03-02-22

Executive summary:

• 08:45 ET 13:45 GMT: The Senate Banking Committee is to conduct a hearing on the nominations of Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson, and Sarah Bloom Raskin.
• Bloom Raskin’s nomination has become a contentious political issue. Lobby groups have written to the Senate Banking Committee to voice concerns with Bloom Raskin and although her post would lead supervision of banks, it is the oil and gas lobby pushing hardest against her nomination.
• Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) is expected to make a full recovery following surgery last week. Reports are that he could return to the Senate in four to six weeks. The timing of Luján’s absence is another setback for Democrats in Congress. Until his return, the Democrats have effectively ceded control of the Chamber to the GOP during a critical legislative period.
• Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR): ‘We all understand, everybody in the Senate can count.’
• The GOP response to Ukraine is becoming increasingly divided. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said that Biden should ditch US tacit support for Ukrainian NATO membership and many of the pro-Trump faction believe that European security is a distraction from more pressing foreign policy priorities in Asia.

MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – US Daily Brief 03-02-22 .pdf