The U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted in favor of the nominations of three candidates for the Federal Reserve Board.

The committee voted 17-6 in favor of the nomination of San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen for vice chairman, 16-7 in favor of Peter Diamond, an MIT economics professor, and 21-2 for Sarah Bloom Raskin, Maryland's commissioner of financial regulation. All the opposition votes came from Republican committee members, Bloomberg News reported.

The committee approval puts full Senate approval one step closer. Christopher Dodd, the Democrat who chairs the banking committee, said he hopes for a final vote in September.

The Fed's board hasn't had a full seven-member complement in more than four years.