Senate Banking Committee

Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown said Thursday he will try again next week to advance President Biden’s five Federal Reserve picks past a blockade led by ranking Republican Pat Toomey on Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to vice chair of supervision.

The spots "left out a few things," Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said at a hearing Tuesday.

Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said Congress should weigh an overhaul of the U.S. Federal Reserve Regional Bank system and consider consolidating regional banks that are “wandering” into issues such as climate change.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin praised all five of President Biden's nominees for the Federal Reserve, an important signal for their confirmations in the 50-50 Senate.

Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking panel, questioned the backgrounds of President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks amid a brewing conflict over diversity at the central bank and its role in dealing with climate change.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold separate hearings next week for Jerome Powell on his nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chair and for Lael Brainard’s elevation to vice chair.

Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, one of the crypto industry’s staunchest supporters in Congress, is planning to introduce a comprehensive bill next year that would cover everything from how digital assets are taxed and categorized to consumer protections. 

The White House is considering nominating Richard Cordray, who led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2013 to 2017, as the Federal Reserve's next vice chairman of supervision, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Senate Banking Committee is considering hearings as early as December on the nominations of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term as leader of the nation’s central bank and the elevation of Fed Gov. Lael Brainard to become vice chair.

Despite naming key leaders of the Federal Reserve this week, including renominating Chair Jerome Powell, the Biden administration delayed its pick for vice chair of supervision. Moving a nominee for the post later through the divided Senate could prove difficult, analysts said.

The Independent Community Bankers of America made the rare move of urging senators not to confirm Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The group argued that some of her proposals could have drastic consequences for the industry.

Saule Omarova faces an uphill climb to confirmation as comptroller of the currency over concerns that she supports more government control of the banking system. Her hearing before the Banking Committee could be a make-or-break moment, observers say.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said Tuesday he has no doubt the Senate would confirm either Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to a second term or his possible successor, Fed Gov. Lael Brainard.

Saule Omarova is scheduled to appear before the Banking Committee as progressives cheer her potential appointment to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and critics describe her views as too radical. Her confirmation would rely on the support of every Democrat in the chamber.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called Sherrod Brown, the head of the Senate panel that oversees the central bank, this week to discuss Powell’s sweeping proposal to limit securities trading by senior Fed officials, as well as Brown’s new legislation on the subject.

Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Lawmakers approved adding the measure, which gives banks legal cover to serve cannabis firms, to a broader legislative package. But the provision has already passed the chamber several times and analysts say full enactment will be more difficult.

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee objected to Biden administration picks for key jobs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development based on their past criticism of police practices. The nominees, including the prospective Federal Housing Administration chief, said their statements were taken out of context.

Sen. Patrick Toomey, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, has argued that research by the Federal Reserve into these topics could result in “mission creep.” Fed officials have said their job includes fostering inclusive economic growth and ensuring the banking system is girded against financial risks posed by climate change.