In April 2010, Diamond, along with Janet Yellen and Sarah Bloom Raskin, was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill the vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board. In August 2010, the Senate returned Diamond's nomination to the White House, effectively rejecting his nomination. President Obama renominated him in September. In June 2011, following a third round of consideration for the Fed seat, Diamond wrote in a "New York Times" op-ed column that he planned to withdraw his name. In the column, he strongly criticized the nomination process and "partisan polarization" in Washington, saying he was effectively blocked by Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee. He also detailed the consideration process, saying that in the first and second rounds, three Republicans had favored his confirmation. In the third, when his name was resubmitted in January 2011, the Republicans all followed ranking minority member Shelby (R, Alabama) in voting against it. Diamond continued, quoting Shelby:"Does Dr. Diamond have any experience in conducting monetary policy? No," said in March. "His academic work has been on pensions and labor market theory." But [Diamond began his reply, in the column understanding the labor market—and the process by which workers and jobs come together and separate—is critical to devising an effective monetary policy. Diamond went on to discuss how his expertise would, he felt, have benefited the central bank and his opinion that "analytical thinking should not be drowned out by mistaken, ideologically driven views." In a statement, Shelby "wouldn't be drawn into a public spat with the nominee," saying simply "I have said many times that I commend Dr. Diamond's talent and career. I wish him the best in the future."