Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman is one step closer to becoming the central bank’s vice chair for supervision.
The Senate Banking Committee advanced Bowman’s nomination Tuesday to the full chamber, by a 13-11 party-line vote.
Bowman joins former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board member Jonathan McKernan and Jonathan Gould, former senior deputy comptroller at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, among Trump administration nominees awaiting full-Senate votes to take crucial posts at financial regulators. The banking committee in March advanced McKernan’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It advanced Gould’s nod to lead the OCC in April.
In a statement Tuesday, the panel’s chair, Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, highlighted the importance of confirming nominees to fill critical government roles.
“It is imperative that we continue to move at a rapid pace to get qualified nominees into the Executive Branch,” Scott said. “These nominees are not just capable but essential to our nation's prosperity. Their roles demand accountability and expertise to protect American interests both at home and abroad.”
Not every senator was as quick to embrace the nominations. Ahead of the vote, the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, posted dozens of what she called “troubling responses” given by several nominees, including Bowman, at their respective confirmation hearings.
At a hearing last month, Warren grew demonstrably frustrated at Bowman’s responses regarding the potential effect of tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump on financial stability.
“President Trump is fanning the flames of disaster with his mismanagement of the nation’s economy,” Warren wrote in a letter to Bowman. “And I am concerned that instead of showing up with the fire department, you will bring a can of gasoline.”
Warren accused Bowman, at the hearing, of dodging questions on the subject.
“I think, as we were watching and waiting to see how the path for these policies continues to evolve, we’ll understand what the economic effects of those policies will be,” Bowman replied.
“All of the things that have happened in the last week and in the last two months, you’re just going to cover your eyes and cover your ears and say, I’m sure the banks will be fine, we’ll check them out in several months?” Warren said.
“Senator Warren, we are always watching –” Bowman said.
“Always watching, but not running a stress test,” Warren shot back.
In her release ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Warren also criticized Bowman’s advocacy toward bank mergers and acquisitions, as well as her assertion that climate “is not an issue within the remit of the Federal Reserve.”
Bowman, from the time the Fed’s previous vice chair for supervision, Michael Barr, announced his resignation, has pinpointed three areas of focus in regulation: tailoring, increasing transparency, and prioritizing safety and soundness. She advocated for letting go of “binary thinking” that pits regulators against banks.
Regulators should promote safety and soundness without stifling economic activity, Bowman said.
“We must approach the task of bank regulation with an understanding and appreciation of these trade-offs, coupled with an affirmative acknowledgment that the banking system is an important driver of business formation, economic expansion and opportunity,” she said.
Banking trade groups Tuesday lauded the advancement of Bowman’s nomination.
“Governor Bowman has been a strong proponent of … pragmatic oversight that targets stresses in the financial system, and rules that meticulously follow administrative procedures,” Independent Community Bankers of America CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said Tuesday in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with Governor Bowman on important regulatory issues affecting community banks and the local communities they serve.”
Financial Services Forum CEO Kevin Fromer said his organization “urge[s] swift action” by the Senate to confirm both Bowman and Gould.
In a post on the social media site X, American Bankers Association CEO Rob Nichols used much the same language, noting Bowman’s “deep experience as a federal regulator, state regulator and community banker.”
Before joining the Fed board in 2018, Bowman served as Kansas’ state bank commissioner and was vice president of Farmers & Drovers Bank from 2010 to 2017.
At least one consumer advocate spoke out Tuesday against Bowman’s advancement.
“The Vice Chair for Supervision position was created in response to the devastating 2008 crash because the Fed for years failed miserably to properly regulate and supervise Wall Street’s megabanks,” Dennis Kelleher, CEO of Better Markets, said in a statement Tuesday. “The next Vice Chair for Supervision is supposed to make sure that never happens again. … To our surprise and regret … that is not Gov. Bowman.”
