Yellen's Senate confirmation hearing set for Jan. 19

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Finance Committee announced Tuesday that it will hold a confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary-nominee Janet Yellen on Jan. 19.

The timing for the hearing will mean that Yellen will appear before a panel still controlled by Republicans. Democrats will not take over control of the Senate until Jan. 20 after President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are sworn into office.

With the election to the Senate of two Democrats from Georgia last week, the Senate will be split 50-50. Harris will give Democrats a majority once she is sworn is. As vice president, Harris will be able to break 50-50 ties.

Yellen is expected to win easy confirmation. She will be the first woman to be Treasury secretary in the nation's history and also the first person to have held all three top economic posts — chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, chair of the Federal Reserve and head of Treasury.

The committee announcement did not provide any guidance on how fast the panel will vote on Biden's nomination of Yellen or when the nomination will be taken up by the full Senate. Biden is hoping to get Yellen's nomination through the Senate quickly so that she will be able to help win congressional passage of another COVID-19 relief package.