Michelle Bowman was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday as the next vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve by a vote of 48-46.
Bowman took office as a Fed governor in 2018 and was reappointed in 2020 for a term ending in 2034. She previously served as the state bank commissioner of Kansas.
She replaces Michael Barr, who announced his resignation as vice chair for supervision on Jan. 6 amid speculation that the incoming Trump administration would attempt to oust him from the Fed’s top supervisory role.
The Senate’s 48-46 vote followed party lines, with two independents joining 44 Democrats in casting nay votes. Six senators did not vote.
Bowman was nominated to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2018 by President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House. Her public profile was boosted in October 2024 when vice presidential candidate JD Vance posted a portion of a Bowman speech on social media to support his claim that an influx of immigrants was driving up U.S. rent prices.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., provided blistering criticism of Bowman’s candidacy during a speech on the Senate floor prior to the vote.
“During her tenure, she has consistently prioritized Wall Street over Main Street,” Warren said. “She has weakened safeguards on the largest banks in the country, and has opposed commonsense rules to promote financial stability, to protect consumers and to drive investment in communities across this country.”
On the opposite side of the aisle, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., released a statement Wednesday applauding Bowman’s confirmation. He had previously praised her nomination, saying that she has been “an important voice on the Federal Reserve Board in pushing back on burdensome rules and regulations that stifle economic opportunity.”
Scott had been highly critical of Barr’s tenure as vice chair for supervision. He took a parting shot at Barr the day he announced his resignation that criticized his handling of the 2023 U.S. banking crisis and said Barr had “failed to meet the responsibilities of his position.”
Barr, who still serves on the Board of Governors, called the decision to step down from the supervisory position “very painful” during a Council on Foreign Relations event in February.
“My judgment was that if I stayed in the role, that the fight over this role would become a major distraction for the Federal Reserve,” Barr said. “That distraction would have prevented us from doing our job serving the country, and to me it just wasn’t worth it.”
