The vote was 14-8 with Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma joining 11 panel Democrats in voting in favor of Yellen. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted against Yellen’s nomination.

Yellen, the Fed’s current vice chairwoman, is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate. She would replace Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term ends on Jan. 31, and would be the first woman to lead the U.S. central bank.

“Dr. Yellen is a model candidate for chair of the Fed,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said. “She has devoted a large portion of her professional and academic career to studying the labor market, unemployment, monetary policy and the economy.”

Republicans have used Yellen’s nomination to bash the Fed’s easy money policies, in particular, its program to buy $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds to keep long-term interest rates low.

”The long-term costs of these policies are unclear and frankly worrisome,” said Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the panel’s top Republican. “The immediate benefits are questionable and markets have become far too reliant on monetary stimulus.”

Yellen had been expected to win enough Republican support to get the needed 60 votes, but that issue become moot on Thursday when the Senate voted to change chamber rules so that now only a simple majority will be needed to confirm presidential nominees.

( QUIZ: Do you know Janet Yellen?)

Manchin echoed Republican complaints about the Fed’s stimulus policies in explaining his vote against Yellen’s nomination.

“While the Fed had to take extraordinary action in the wake of the financial crisis, it’s been five years since we started quantitative easing, and we continue this risky endeavor without seeing the gains we expected,” he said in a statement, adding he is concerned about Yellen’s plans to continue the Fed’s current policy path.

Kirk said that while he opposes the Fed’s policies, he voted in favor of the nomination because he feels Yellen is qualified.

“Dr. Yellen clearly has the intellect and experience, and when we met privately she assured me she also has the courage to wind down the stimulus program as soon as possible,” he said in a statement.

While the Fed’s role in monetary policy has been Republicans’ focus, several committee Democrats have urged Yellen to give equal focus to the expanded powers the central bank has to oversee big banks under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law.

Yellen “understands that the Fed should be playing an active role in supervising and regulating the largest financial institutions, and that the Fed’s supervisory responsibilities are just as important as its monetary policy responsibilities,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Kate Davidson and Zachary Warmbrodt contributed to this report.