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Bill Radke: It is on to the full Senate for Ben Bernanke. The Fed chairman’s renomination to another four-year term was just approved by the Senate Banking Committee. The vote was 16 to 7, as Marketplace’s Jeremy Hobson reports.

Jeremy Hobson: Supporters of Ben Bernanke’s re-nomination say he saved the country from another Great Depression. Some are Democrats, and some, like Senator Bob Corker, are Republicans.

Bob Corker: Do I think that there’s anybody, anybody in this country that has been tested more and has the ability to be chairman of the Fed right now than Chairman Bernanke, I don’t think so.

But just as some Republicans favor Bernanke’s reappointment as Fed Chairman, some Democrats oppose it. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon:

Jeff Merkley: Dr. Bernanke failed to recognize or remedy the factors that paved the road to this dark and difficult recession.

Even if Chairman Bernanke is approved next month by the full Senate, he’ll face congressional pressure on a number of fronts. Particularly the Fed’s independence and whether it will be the main regulator of the financial system.

In New York, I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.