Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill have taken a step to address the vacancy for the Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, they emphasized the urgency of appointing a strong leader to this position.
The letter was supported by several Republican members from both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. The senators who joined included Mike Crapo, Thom Tillis, Cynthia Lummis, and Bernie Moreno. Representatives Bill Huizenga, Pete Sessions, Ann Wagner, Roger Williams, Tom Emmer, Barry Loudermilk, Warren Davidson, Bryan Steil, William Timmons, Marlin Stutzman, Dan Meuser, Young Kim, Andrew Garbarino, Scott Fitzgerald, Mike Flood, Mike Lawler, Monica De La Cruz, Zachary Nunn, Lisa McClain, Maria Salazar, Troy Downing, Mike Haridopolos and Tim Moore also signed the letter.
In their communication with Secretary Bessent, Chairman Scott and his colleagues stated: “We respectfully request that you fill the role of VCS with a strong leader as soon as possible to ensure that the important tasks of (i) unwinding the politicized regulations promulgated by the Board during the Biden administration (ii) ensuring that there is accountability at the Board (iii) right-sizing the regulatory and supervisory work of the Board are not delayed…Past gaps and poor leadership within the VCS role on the Board’s Committee on Supervision and Regulation has led to disfunction at the Board and contributed to second third fourth largest bank failures in our nation’s history. Only a VCS empowered in that position can effect necessary changes at Board as quickly as is possible.”
The call for action follows Michael Barr’s resignation announcement on January 6th from his role as Vice Chair for Supervision effective February 28th. Chairman Scott pointed out Barr’s failure in meeting his responsibilities and highlighted how crucial it is to have responsible financial regulators leading at such high levels.
