WASHINGTON — A Senate panel today approved the nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to run the nation's central bank for another four years.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 to send Bernanke's nomination to the full Senate for consideration. Approval came after a two-hour debate that heaped both praise and criticism on the Fed chief.

Although Bernanke, 56, appears to have enough votes in the Senate to win a second term, six Republicans and one Democrat on the committee did line up against him. They blame him for not spotting problems that led to the financial crisis, failing to protect consumers and supporting Wall Street bailouts.

Bernanke's nomination comes at the height of public anger toward the Fed.

Many ordinary Americans were disgusted by the Wall Street bailouts and hefty bonuses paid to employees of those rescued companies, while Main Street continued to suffer from rising unemployment, record-high home foreclosures and stagnant wages.

In turn, legislation in Congress would rein in the Fed's powers, and a House-passed provision would subject the Fed to an audit by congressional investigators.

By The Associated Press