Liberals fought for Janet Yellen to lead the Fed. Now they hope she’s more ‘more ally than adversary.’

iberals helped install Janet Yellen as the first Democrat to lead the Federal Reserve in nearly three decades. But now, halfway through her tenure, they are turning into some of the central bank’s sharpest critics.

Yellen won the backing of liberals during her nomination three years ago to one of the most powerful positions in the global economy. They admired her early warnings of the financial crisis and were heartened by her staunch support of central bank efforts to reduce unemployment.

Since then, however, Yellen has begun the process of puling back the Fed’s unprecedented stimulus of the economy — drawing the concerns of liberals worried it will upset a fragile recovery. At congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have pushed back against the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates even though unemployment among people of color remains high and wage growth is still relatively weak. More than 100 members of Congress and nearly a dozen senators recently sent Yellen a letter questioning why there were so many bankers — and so few women and racial minorities — in the Fed’s top ranks.

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