For all of the talk of Bernanke being slow to react to the financial crisis with a too-little-too-late style, some think he has now done too much, overextending the Fed's powers and undermining its independence.
Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) who's facing a tough re-election bid this fall, was among the first to comment, offering tepid support for Bernanke in an otherwise skeptical statement about the chairman and the central bank.
"There will be a thorough and comprehensive confirmation hearing," Dodd said. "I expect many serious questions will be raised about the role of the Federal Reserve moving forward and what authorities it should and should not have."
Though somewhat surprising, the President's timing may hardly be serendipitous, especially since the White House told the press corps over the weekend not to expect any news while the first family was on vacation in Martha's Vineyard.
Congress, the home of much criticism, is in recess, and critics of Bernanke and the Fed are scattered around the country, far a field of Washington's center stage.
The President's commitment to Bernanke surprised some analysts, who either thought he would appoint an openly Democratic individual—White House adviser and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers was thought to be waiting in the wings—or accommodate Bernanke critics in the Democratic party.
"Experience trumped politics in this apparent renomination, as there were many Democrats calling for change," said Chris Rupkey, economist at Bak of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, in applauding the president's decision.
Also interesting is that Obama's announcement comes just weeks after the Fed chairman and the central bank took a rare bipartisan political beating over the White House's proposals to give the Fed sweeping new powers in its regulatory reform plan.
That in turn relit the debate over the central bank's supervision of bank holding companies and extraordinary policy responses in bailing out troubled financial firms and reflating the economy beyond the use of basic monetary policy tools.
Not only did Congressional critics question the Fed's political independence from the executive branch, they deemed the central bank's unusual and enormous lending programs as a challenge to the spending power reserved for the legislature under the Constitution.
Much of that is likely to resurface at Bernanke's confirmation hearing, which has yet to be set.
"You have a lot of guys who are professional Fed critics who'll have a great opportunity [with the nomination hearing]," said Bill Frenzel, a 10-term Republican Congressman now with the Brookings Institution.
The regulatory reform plan penned by Republicans in Congress would narrow, not expand, the Fed's responsibilities, transfer much of its balance sheet activity to the Treasury Department and impose regular audits by the General Accountability Office.
Wariness about the Fed—and by association, Bernanke—has become fairly common in the GOP in the last year and is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
"I'd think long and hard about reappointing him," said Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who is thought to be considering a run for the presidency in 2012.
It would be easy to dismiss Republicans on some of the Fed issues, were it not that Democrats at various points of the party spectrum share some of that thinking.
United States President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that he is nominating Ben Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States.
White House in April.
Obama made the announcement during a brief break from his vacation at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

"The man next to me, Ben Bernanke, has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and the world has ever faced. As an expert on the causes of the Great Depression, I'm sure Ben never imagined that he would be part of a team responsible for preventing another. But because of his background, his temperament, his courage, and his creativity, that's exactly what he has helped to achieve. And that is why I am re-appointing him to another term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve," the President said.

"Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall," Obama added.

"We have been bold or deliberate as circumstances demanded, but our objective remains constant: to restore a more stable economic and financial environment in which opportunity can again flourish, and in which Americans' hard work and creativity can receive their proper rewards," Ben Bernanke said while accepting the nomination.

Ben Bernanke, who succeeded Alan Greenspan on February 1, 2006, will now face a Senate confirmation hearing.

"There will be a thorough and comprehensive confirmation hearing," said Senator Christopher Dodd, who is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. "I expect many serious questions will be raised about the role of the Federal Reserve moving forward and what authorities it should and should not have."

"I am extremely pleased to learn that Ben Bernanke has been nominated for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve," read a statement by Jean-Claude Trichet, the President of the European Central Bank. "We have had an excellent and very close working relationship during the current episode of exceptional challenges for the world economy. The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have, together with other central banks, initiated an unprecedented level of close cooperation, which has been key in coping with the present situation."