A Senate panel has advanced Janet Yellen's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, setting up a final vote in the full Senate.

The nomination was approved on a 14-8 vote. All the no votes came from Republicans, many whom object to the Fed's aggressive low interest rate policies to support the economy.

Yellen is widely expected to be confirmed by the full Senate but the timing of that vote is not clear. Some senators have said they plan to hold up her nomination as leverage on other matters.

Yellen would be the first woman to ever lead the Fed and the first Democrat to do so since Paul Volcker stepped down in 1987.