Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen moved closer on Thursdayto becoming the first woman to lead the U.S. central bank after aSenate committee approved her nomination and sent it to the fullSenate for a final vote.

If confirmed, as is widely expected, Yellen would replace FedChairman Ben Bernanke when his term expires on January 31 andbecome the most powerful woman in world finance.

The vote was 14-8. Three Republicans backed her appointment andone Democrat voted no.

A Democratic leadership aide said the aim was to hold aconfirmation vote in the full Senate in December.

Nominated by President Barack Obama, Yellen is viewed as amonetary policy dove more concerned about the costs to society ofhigh unemployment than about the risk aggressive actions to lowerit will ignite future inflation or fuel asset bubbles.

She will preside over a central bank that has taken dramatic andunconventional steps to spur economic growth, and which is nowwrestling with a decision on when to scale back a bond-buyingprogram that has sought to drive down long-term market interestrates.

The Fed has held benchmark U.S. interest rates near zero sincelate 2008 and has quadrupled the size of its balance sheet to $3.9trillion through three massive asset purchase campaigns. It iscurrently buying $85 billion in bonds a month.

Both Yellen and Bernanke have emphasized in recent days that theFed will keep interest rates low for some time even after it windsdown its asset purchases, remarks that have bolstered expectationsof policy continuity at the central bank.

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Minutes of the Fed's October meeting released on Wednesdayshowed policymakers were debating how best to enhance their forwardguidance on when to expect rates to rise to help temper anyeconomically disruptive moves in financial markets once the centralbank starts tapering its bond buying.

The Fed has said it would not raise rates before the U.S.jobless rate falls to 6.5 percent, as long as inflation looked setto stay below 2.5 percent. Unemployment stood at 7.3 percent inOctober.

When Bernanke first broached the possibility of a near-termreduction in the asset purchases in May and June, he sparked a boutof global financial market turmoil that sent bond yields soaringand hit emerging markets hard.

The Fed's aggressive actions have drawn fire from Republicanlawmakers worried about the risk of inflation and asset bubbles.Many also complain the central bank has abetted big spending by theObama administration by snapping up the bulk of new Treasury debtissuance.

"The long-term costs of these policies are unclear and franklyworrisome," Senator Michael Crapo, the top Republican on thebanking panel, said before voting 'no.'

Despite those concerns, Yellen is expected to handily winconfirmation when the full Senate considers her nomination.

Democrats control 55 of the 100 votes in the Senate, which meansshe would need the backing of only a handful of Republicans tosecure the 60 votes necessary to clear any procedural hurdles thatmight be thrown in her path.

She looks well on the way to reaching that threshold.

Yellen received support from three Republicans on the committee:Bob Corker of Tennessee, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mark Kirk ofIllinois.

In addition, Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine andLindsey Graham of South Carolina have also indicated they areinclined to back her.

The Democrat who voted against her in committee was Joe Manchinof West Virginia.