By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters] -The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a unique letter to Congress on Thursday raising concerns over Sarah Bloom Raskin who was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision and calling for Federal Regulators to shift financing away from fossil fuel industries.

A lobbying group representing the U.S. industries urged the Senate Banking Committee leaders to ask Raskin questions about her statements, and criticize the Fed’s decision to allow oil and gas companies access to emergency pandemic fund funds.

Tom Quaadman was the Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness executive vice president. Quaadman said they had never sent out a letter to question a Fed nominee before, but that it had been careful not to oppose her nomination.

He said to Reuters, “If someone wants to take over the safety and soundness regulation lead positions, and that they really want to seperate an industry from the bank system, then it starts to raise doubts.”

Quaadman stated that Raskin’s views could have “ramifications” for the U.S. economy and global economic system. The Chamber was concerned about her policies being based on solid data and input, not ideology.

According to him, the Chamber’s board, which includes large oil companies, might raise similar concerns if a Republican nominee proposed excluding renewable energy businesses from public funding.

Michael Gwin, spokesperson for the White House, stated that Raskin will bring unrivalled experience to the job. He also has the support of economists from all political parties.

“Bloom Raskin believes firmly in the independent role of the Federal Reserve and will work in concert with Chair (Jerome) Powell and her colleagues to identify and mitigate a range of risks facing our financial system – including cyber and climate – within the Federal Reserve’s existing mandate,” he said.

According to Reuters, a top administration official said Raskin was “firmly against the Federal Reserve allocating credit according to sector or choking sectors off credit.” She supports the current policy framework for climate risk that Powell and Randal Quarles (current Fed vice-chair for supervision) have outlined.”

On February 3, the banking committee will schedule a confirmation hearing to hear Raskin’s nominations and the two nominees for Fed economists, Lisa Cook, and Philip Jefferson.

In a letter to Biden this week, Senator Pat Toomey (the top Republican on that panel) also attacked Raskin, claiming she was unacceptable for her “demonstrated hostility” toward the oil-and gas sector.

American Bankers Association, Jan. 14, congratulated Raskin Cook, Jefferson, and Jefferson for their nominations. They stated they will bring “a wide variety of economic, regulatory, and academic experience” with them to the role.

Raskin also worked as a Treasury official under President Barack Obama. He would take Randal Quarles’ place, who was named vice chair of supervision for the Fed by Republican President Donald Trump in 2017.

Biden is most likely to fill the role of bank supervisor among the many vacancies on Fed’s Board of Governors of seven members.

Raskin, if confirmed, would lead policy issues such as climate change financial risk, community lending rules and financial technology company rules. He would also likely review Quarles rule changes that covered rules on banks’ speculation investments, derivatives trading and liquidity.