WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s campaign to encourage economic growth was bolstered on Thursday as Janet L. Yellen moved to the verge of confirmation as the next head of the Fed, and a change in Senate procedures made it easier for the White House to fill three other vacancies on the Fed’s board.

The Senate Banking Committee sent Ms. Yellen’s nomination to the full Senate on Thursday morning by a vote of 14-8. This margin, unusually small compared with those for past nominees to lead the Fed, reflected the depth of partisan divisions over the central bank’s five-year-old campaign to increase the pace of economic growth.  Read more