Sherrod Brown doesn’t need Joe Manchin’s advice. Brown, an Ohio Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, is locked in an acrimonious showdown with his Republican counterpart, Pat Toomey , over the fate of President Joe Biden’s five Federal Reserve nominees. Toomey, who has held up a vote on the Fed slate, has said he’s willing to advance all but one — Sarah Bloom Raskin, Biden’s pick to be the Fed’s top Wall Street watchdog. Manchin’s message: Take the deal. “If they’re willing to move four out of five? Take it and run with it. It’s a win,” Manchin (D-W.Va.) told our Burgess Everett about the group of nominees, which includes Fed Chair Jay Powell. “I’ll take a win any time I get it.” For Brown, it’s a lot more complicated than that, Burgess and your MM host write: Brown “sees a GOP twisting Senate rules to boycott his panel and trying to dictate who can be confirmed by the Democratic majority. So he does not necessarily appreciate Manchin’s advice to jettison embattled Fed pick Sarah Bloom Raskin, whom the GOP opposes because of her strong support for climate action.” “Is he on the committee now?” Brown quipped with trademark acerbity. “[You] hadn’t told me Manchin is on the committee. Good for him.” (For the record, Manchin is not on the committee. And the West Virginia centrist says he is still undecided on Raskin’s nomination.) But back to Brown and Toomey — Their staring contest has captivated the Senate, and some colleagues say their odd-couple relationship is starting to unravel on the heels of a bitter fight over Saule Omarova, Biden’s scuttled nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a bank regulator. “It’s strained,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), whom Democrats are trying to peel off, nudging him to show up for a vote so the committee can send the Fed nominees to the Senate. The South Dakotan has so far not been persuaded, saying Raskin is “thumbing [her] nose” at the committee. Brown is digging in , with the support of the White House. Letting the other four Fed nominees advance without Raskin would imperil her nomination. (An unthinkable outcome just a few months ago for a nominee who has won Senate confirmation twice before with unanimous support.) Moreover, Democrats argue that caving to Toomey’s demands would risk emboldening the GOP to repeat its hardline tactics in other committees — like, say, when the Judiciary panel considers a Supreme Court nomination in the coming weeks. Toomey thinks he can keep his side in line — “I wouldn’t be doing this if there weren’t uniform agreement among Republicans,” he said. “We’re not in any hurry." The upshot: Don’t expect either one to blink any time soon. CRYPTO INDUSTRY UNDER PRESSURE TO BLOCK RUSSIANS — Pressure is mounting on the cryptocurrency industry to block access to Russians as economic sanctions push the ruble to the edge of collapse. Our Sam Sutton: “The wide-ranging sanctions and a growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine have sent technology firms, internet providers and credit card companies racing for the exits. But top crypto platforms have held firm on continuing to offer Russian users a potential digital haven.” The government of Ukraine and U.S. Democrats have blasted crypto asset providers for operating in Russia at all, although the firms insist they’re working to block sanctioned oligarchs. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said this week she’s writing a bill that would block the exchanges from facilitating crypto transactions with Russian addresses. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a crypto critic and senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, tells Sam: “MasterCard has done it. Visa has done it. Amex has done it . In the U.S., these crypto exchanges aren't doing it. Why have they chosen to be less moral than Visa and MasterCard?” Meanwhile,President Joe Biden’s executive order on digital asset policy is getting solid reviews from industry leaders, who see it as a clear signal that the White House knows that digital assets are here to stay. "The White House finally says what we and the industry have been saying for years - if the US wants to maintain its status as a responsible tech leader, it needs to provide a clear regulatory framework for an industry that’s exploding in growth,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted. Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer for Coinbase, called it a "hopeful moment ” for the future of U.S. crypto policy, and the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky said “ it's about as good as we could ask.” Biden's order now puts the onus on agencies from the Treasury Department to the Office of Science and Technology to develop a series of reports over the coming months on how lawmakers and the White House should clarify regulation of fast-evolving markets while leaving room for technical innovation. To be sure, administration officials will likely draw from existing reports on topics like stablecoins and a central bank digital currency, "but there's no doubt that this is a ton of work, and it's going to take a lot of effort to meet deadlines that are here,” one official said in an interview on Wednesday. IT’S THURSDAY — Everyone ready for another scorching hot CPI report today? Don’t say we (and everyone else) didn’t warn you. Find any good news in the report? We want to know, and send us your tips and story ideas while you’re at it, please: kdavidson@politico.com, aweaver@politico.com, or on Twitter @katedavidson and @aubreeeweaver.
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