Sen. Paul: Janet Yellen likely to be confirmed

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., concedes he probably won't be able to block the nomination of Janet Yellen to be the next Federal Reserve chairwoman but he still wants to try.

In an interview to air Friday on Bloomberg TV, Paul says he will block Yellen from a vote unless he gets an up-or-down vote on his bill that seeks to audit the Fed -- an idea long pressed by his father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul.

"Apparently, Janet Yellen's been in favor of transparency at the Fed," Paul told Bloomberg's Al Hunt. "That's all we're asking for, is an open audit ... I think that there are a lot of people in middle-class America -- some want to call flyover America where I live -- who are concerned about the revolving door from the Treasury to Wall Street firms to the Federal Reserve."

Paul said one central question to him is "are people becoming wealthy off of policy that we should know about?"

Asked if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has the votes to get Yellen confirmed, Paul conceded: "In all likelihood, yes."

Paul's vow to block Yellen, President Obama's choice to succeed Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, is in addition to a threat on all presidential nominees made by Sen. Lindsey Graham. The South Carolina Republican is seeking more information on the Obama administration's handling of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Paul told Bloomberg TV that his ability to keep a "hold" on Yellen's nomination is limited under the Senate rules. "In the old days, you could place a hold on and keep it forever," he said. "Even if I stand on the floor and filibuster in a personal fashion, I can only hold it there for two days."

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