Sarah Bloom Raskin

Sarah Bloom Raskin
Sarah Bloom Raskin
Born	April 15, 1961 (age 65); Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, financial market policy expert, professor
Known for	13th United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury; Federal Reserve Board of Governors member

Sarah Bloom Raskin (born April 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and expert in financial market policy who held the position of the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury from 2014 until 2017. She was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2010 through 2014 and previously acted as Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation. Raskin has been a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke University and currently holds the title of Colin W. Brown Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at Duke Law School. Additionally, she is a Senior Fellow at the Duke Center on Risk and a Partner at Kaya Partners, Ltd., a firm specializing in climate advisory services.

Early life and education

Raskin was born in Medford, Massachusetts to parents Arlene (née Perlis) and Herbert Bloom. She completed her high school education at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois in 1979. In 1983, she graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Amherst College, where her senior thesis addressed monetary policy. She went on to obtain her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1986. Muhlenberg College honored her with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2019.

Government service

Raskin's professional background includes work as an associate at Arnold & Porter and serving as counsel for the Senate Banking Committee. Before becoming commissioner, she was managing director at Promontory Financial Group and acted as Maryland’s top financial regulator.

President Barack Obama nominated Raskin to join the Federal Reserve Board alongside Dr. Janet Yellen and economist Peter A. Diamond. Both Raskin and Yellen received unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate on September 30, 2010, and were officially sworn in on October 4, 2010, by then Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. During her tenure at the Fed, Raskin concentrated on issues related to consumer protection and reducing income inequality.

On July 31, 2013, President Obama put forward Raskin’s nomination for deputy secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury. After being confirmed by voice vote on March 12, 2014, she became the highest-ranking woman ever to hold that Treasury position at the time. She took office on March 19, 2014, following her resignation from the Federal Reserve Board on March 13. Her priorities as deputy secretary included addressing the broader economic impact of student loan debt and enhancing cyber security measures.

Post-government career

In the academic year spanning 2017–2018, Raskin served as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Between 2018 and 2020, she was a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke University, collaborating with initiatives such as the Rethinking Regulation program and the Global Financial Markets Center to promote greater public awareness about markets and regulatory frameworks. Her scholarly work centered on reforming regulations to strengthen financial market stability and utilizing cyber-data as a resource for public benefit.

In November 2020, media sources identified Raskin as a potential nominee for secretary of the treasury under the Biden administration, and in 2021 she was also considered for a leadership role at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Second Federal Reserve nomination

On January 14, 2022, President Biden put forward Raskin's name for the position of vice chairwoman for banking supervision at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The Senate Banking Committee held hearings on February 3, 2022. Nevertheless, her nomination encountered resistance from Republican members who chose to boycott the committee’s voting process. The situation worsened when, on March 14, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin declared he would withhold his support, severely diminishing her prospects for confirmation.

Following this development, the Biden administration withdrew Raskin’s nomination on March 15 at her own request. In her letter of withdrawal, she highlighted the necessity of incorporating climate change risks into the Federal Reserve’s framework to maintain the stability of both the economy and financial system.

President Biden attributed the unsuccessful nomination to what he described as "unfounded attacks from industry and conservative interest groups."

Personal life

Raskin is married to Jamie Raskin, who serves as a U.S. Representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district. As of 2006, their residence was in Takoma Park, Maryland.

The couple has two grown daughters named Hannah and Tabitha. On December 31, 2020, Raskin’s office revealed that their son Thomas (Tommy), an Amherst College alumnus and Harvard Law School student, tragically died by suicide at age 25. The family later disclosed that Thomas had been battling depression.

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