Senate Votes for Federal Reserve Chair: 83 Volcker, 84 Volcker Reppointment, 91 Greenspan, 100 Greenspan Reppointment, 91 Greenspan Third, 89 Greenspan Fourth, 100 Greenspan Fifth, 99 Bernanke, 77 Bernanke Reppointment, 59 Yellen

Senate votes preliminary OK for Yellen to lead Fed:

WASHINGTON (AP)–The Senate has cleared the way for Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as head of the Federal Reserve. Senators voted 59-34 Friday to end debate on the president’s nomination of Yellen. Approval is expected Jan. 6, the day the Senate returns from winter recess.

But… But… But… I was told last summer that a big argument for Janet Yellen was that she was clearly so well-qualified that lots of Republicans would vote for cloture, and she would clear the 60-vote cloture threshold easily…

Not so.