Senate Panel OKs Michael Barr as Fed’s Head of Bank Regulation

President Joe Biden’s nominee for Federal Reserve vice chair of banking supervision, Michael Barr, has moved closer to winning the nomination after a lengthy process, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote Wednesday (June 8).

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday has voted to support Barr 17-7. Barr, if supported, will get a four-year term as the vice chairman of the country’s most influential bank regulator.

Because Barr was supported by five Republicans along with the Democrats, the confirmation will likely happen in the next few weeks. No Democrats have expressed opposition to his nomination.

Barr’s resume includes working with both the Obama and Clinton administrations.

The role Barr is up for would be responsible for developing policy recommendations for the Fed board and overseeing regulatory staff, which supervise some of the biggest U.S. financial firms like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Barr’s nomination would be a feather in the cap of the Biden administration, as it has struggled to advance financial nominees through an evenly-divided Senate.

It also comes after Sarah Bloom Raskin, the first Biden nominee for the post, withdrew from consideration because too many lawmakers had resignations about her being approved for the post — notably Joe Manchin, who said he objected to her views on what to do about climate change.

PYMNTS wrote in mid-May that Barr seemed to be on track to be confirmed. At the time, reports noted that there hadn’t been a “concentrated effort” to do away with his candidacy.

Read more: Barr, Up for Fed Regulator Post, Seems Headed for Confirmation

Barr is currently a law professor at the University of Michigan. He didn’t have much support from progressives at first, but because of the length of time the post has been vacant, they seem to have come around on support for him.

In hearings, Barr has had a moderate tone on things like financial risk from climate change and how to regulate cryptocurrencies.