Q+A: What''s next for Bernanke''s confirmation to Fed?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to win confirmation to a second four-year term as head of the U.S. central bank but the road to winning the Senate''s backing has been bumpy.

Bernanke''s first term expires January 31, and a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Sunday the body could vote on his confirmation this week.

Here are a few questions and answers about hurdles facing his confirmation:

WHAT ARE OBSTACLES TO BERNANKE''S CONFIRMATION?

At least four senators have sought to delay Bernanke''s confirmation by placing formal "holds" on the nomination.

After filing for a vote, which Democrats likely won''t do until they believe they have secured enough votes to win confirmation, there is a two-day waiting period before the Senate can vote to clear the procedural roadblock.

In this vote, they need to round up at least 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to start debate.

After that, there could be up to 30 hours of further debate before a final confirming vote.

That makes the earliest a vote could occur Wednesday.

In December, the Senate Banking Committee approved Bernanke''s nomination on a 16-7 vote, an unusually high level of opposition for a sitting Fed chairman. All but one of the ''no'' votes came from Republicans.

However, clearing the hurdle will show there is the needed support for the nomination to be approved.

The high level opposition reflects anger among lawmakers that the Fed failed to anticipate and prevent the financial crisis, and unease over the Bernanke-led Fed''s role in massive government bailouts of the financial industry.

While many credit Bernanke, who became a Fed governor in 2002 and Fed chairman in 2006, with preventing the crisis from being worse, some fault him for endorsing a long period of low interest rates in the early 2000s and for playing down risks from the housing bubble.