Biden Will Nominate Barr as Fed's Banking Supervisor
Michael Barr is a Treasury Department veteran and one of the architects of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.
April 15, 2022 at 02:21 PM
3 minute read
President Joe Biden will nominate Michael Barr, a Treasury Department veteran and one of the architects of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, as the U.S. Federal Reserve's chief banking supervisor.
"Michael brings the expertise and experience necessary for this important position at a critical time for our economy and families across the country," Biden said in a statement released Friday by the White House. Barr's nomination as vice chair for supervision of the Fed must be approved by the Senate.
The president recently settled on Barr, according to people familiar with the matter. Sarah Bloom Raskin, his previous choice, withdrew from consideration on March 15 after it became clear she didn't have the votes for confirmation in the evenly divided Senate.
Biden aides discussed the pick with key lawmakers and staffers on Capitol Hill, and both Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, indicated to the administration that they were comfortable with Barr, the people said.
"The Federal Reserve plays a critical role in fighting inflation and Barr will make a strong vice chair for supervision, joining my other nominees for the Federal Reserve that the Senate is considering," Biden said in his statement.
Brown praised Barr in a statement, saying "now more than ever, we need a full Fed Board — including a vice chair of supervision. The vice chair of supervision plays a critical role in protecting our financial system and must prioritize strong financial regulation, and identify and stay ahead of risks to our economy."
Brown urged Republican senators "to abandon their old playbook of personal attacks and demagoguery and put Americans and their pocketbooks first" in working to confirm Barr's nomination.
Barr served at the U.S. Treasury during the administration of President Barack Obama and worked for the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton. He was also part of the Biden transition team that reviewed the Treasury Department.
Barr is currently dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He's been on the faculty of the university's law school since 2001.
He did not respond to a request for comment earlier this week when he emerged as a leading contender for the job.
As a top aide to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Barr was one of the main authors of Dodd-Frank, a law forged in response to the financial crisis that began in 2008 and notably created the vice chair for supervision at the Fed. At the Treasury, he opened the Office of Community Development, expanded the earned income tax credit, and helped to design the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
Warren praised him in her 2014 book "A Fighting Chance," crediting him with helping to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Barr holds bachelor's and law degrees from Yale University, and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He served as a law clerk to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter in 1993.
He had been a candidate to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency earlier in the Biden administration, but when word of his potential nominee surfaced last year, some progressives rose in opposition. Those activists were wary of his ties to financial technology companies. He was an outside adviser to Ripple Labs Inc. until 2017.
Nancy Cook reports for Bloomberg News.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllTrump Mulls Big Changes to Banking Regulation, Unsettling the Industry
CFPB Orders Big Banks to Limit Overdraft Fees to $5. But Will Its Edict Stick?
3 minute readUS Judge Throws Out Sale of Infowars to The Onion. But That's Not the End of the Road for Sandy Hook Families
4 minute readGreenberg Traurig Initiates String of Suits Following JPMorgan Chase's 'Infinite Money Glitch'
Trending Stories
- 1No Two Wildfires Alike: Lawyers Take Different Legal Strategies in California
- 2Poop-Themed Dog Toy OK as Parody, but Still Tarnished Jack Daniel’s Brand, Court Says
- 3Meet the New President of NY's Association of Trial Court Jurists
- 4Lawyers' Phones Are Ringing: What Should Employers Do If ICE Raids Their Business?
- 5Freshfields Hires Ex-SEC Corporate Finance Director in Silicon Valley
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250