Letter campaign was signature moment for Yellen Janet Yellen, President Barack Obama's choice to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, can cite a stellar record in academia, government and as a member of the central bank's board in favour of her nomination. But she can also thank a band of Democratic senators, whose opposition to Lawrence Summers, Mr Obama's former adviser and her chief rival for the Fed job, in effect knocked him out of the running. Republicans on the Senate banking committee, which must vote to approve any nomination for the Fed chairman before it goes before the full chamber, have already signalled their concern, and in some cases, their opposition to her. Mike Crapo, of Idaho, the senior Republican on the committee, and one of six conservative senators who voted against Ms Yellen as Fed vice-chairman in 2010, said he "strongly disagrees with the Fed's use" of quantitative easing. Bob Corker, of Tennessee, another influential Republican, expressed similar concerns, saying he was "not aware of anything that demonstrates her [dovish] views" on monetary policy have changed. But the Democrats, with a majority on the committee and in the Senate as a whole, have the whip hand, and they have used it to ensure that Ms Yellen got the nomination, despite Mr Obama's preference for Mr Summers. The campaign was led by two of the chamber's more left-leaning members, Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, and Jeff Merkley, of Oregon. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, supported them but played a less active role. Both men were alarmed when they saw Mr Summers emerge as a serious candidate in June, prompting Mr Brown to circulate a letter that attracted the signatures of more than a third of Senate Democrats in favour of Ms Yellen. Mr Brown did not hide his happiness at her nomination, calling it "an historic moment for the Federal Reserve, for women everywhere, and for all of us who care about job creation." "Governor Yellen will work to prevent future bailouts, boost our housing markets, and give the Fed's mandate to maximise employment the attention it deserves," Mr Brown said. The White House briefly subcontracted the case for Mr Summers to outside activists, led by Jim Messina, a former White House deputy chief of staff and Mr Obama's 2012 campaign manager. The pro-Yellen forces were a more disparate bunch, bringing together women who supported her, some of her fellow economists, such as Christina Romer and Laura Tyson, for a campaign co-ordinated loosely out of the offices of senators Brown and Merkley. "It was quite spontaneous," said one Democratic adviser, who said the attitude of some Democrats to Mr Summers was "no way in hell." With Mr Summers painted as a symbol of the kind of deregulation that caused the financial crisis, the former Treasury secretary and Harvard professor began to bleed support among Democrats on Capitol Hill. By mid-September, Mr Summers and the White House recognised he would not get the votes to be confirmed without a possibly debilitating nomination fight, and he withdrew his name from consideration. The Republicans largely stayed on the sidelines during the intramural battle on the left. The confirmation will bring their views back into the spotlight, although not with such force that they could derail Ms Yellen's nomination. Republicans hold 10 of the banking committee's 22 seats, which virtually assures her nomination would go before the full Senate for final consideration since all of the Democrats are expected to vote for her. Still, many of the Republicans on the Senate banking committee have expressed concerns about Ms Yellen's support of the 2009 stimulus and other issues. Although some lean towards voting against her, most said they would wait until her hearing before deciding. Richard Shelby, of Alabama, criticised Ms Yellen's inflationary bias in 2010, and said he still "has real concerns about her proclivity to print more money and her record as a bank regulator, which has been found wanting." "However, he believes that we should let the confirmation process play out, and looks forward to discussing her record at the upcoming hearing," a spokesman said. David Vitter, of Louisiana, is known for working with the Democrat's Mr Brown on issues like requiring the biggest banks to have larger capital reserves, and preventing regulators from using taxpayer dollars to bail out financial institutions. Mr Vitter said his biggest question for Ms Yellen is whether she will "actively push for higher capital requirements for megabanks than regulators have announced." "My biggest concerns are that she won't, (thus) continuing to support too big to fail and bailouts as needed," he said. And she'll continue the Fed's excessive printing of money. No date has been set for the Senate hearing.