The Senate confirmed former Treasury official Michael Barr as the Federal Reserve’s top Wall Street regulator, handing a bipartisan win to the Biden administration.
Barr, one of the designers of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that overhauled the financial regulatory system, was confirmed as Fed vice chairman for supervision in a 66-28 vote on Wednesday. The confirmation came after President Joe Biden’s previous nominee for the important role dropped out of contention under intense scrutiny from Republicans.
The Fed, which is battling the worst inflation in four decades, is now fully staffed. The supervisory role hasn’t been filled since October of last year, when Randy Quarles, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, left the position.
More than 20 Republicans joined with Democrats in giving Barr the green light. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), ranking member of the Banking Committee, voted to confirm him and applauded his government service and “distinguished career focused on financial services and regulation.”
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“While I disagree with Professor Barr on a number of policy issues, he has pledged to fight the record high inflation that’s hurting American families,” Toomey said. “Importantly, in our conversations and in written correspondence, Professor Barr has strongly committed to promote transparency and accountability at the Fed, including the regional Reserve Banks. I congratulate Professor Barr on his confirmation.”
Barr had served as assistant treasury secretary for financial institutions under former President Barack Obama and was one of the driving forces behind the regulatory changes following the financial crisis, including the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Barr also served on the National Economic Council.
His nomination was smooth compared to that of Biden’s first nominee, Sarah Bloom Raskin, who withdrew from contention after centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) said he would not vote for her, citing remarks she had made critical of the fossil fuel industry in his decision. All Republicans in the evenly divided Senate were expected to vote against her nomination.
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Republicans had pointed to her past writings as proof that she was too radical for the role, including when she suggested that financial regulators need to “re-imagine their own role so that they can play their part in the broader re-imagining of the economy.”
The vote on Barr’s nomination came the same day that inflation accelerated to an excruciating 9.1% for the 12 months ending in June, the highest level in four decades, according to the consumer price index report released on Wednesday.
