U.S. Senate confirms Kansas bank regulator Bowman for Federal Reserve board
The Senate has confirmed Michelle Bowman, a Kansas banking regulator, as a member of the Federal Reserve board.
Bowman was approved on a 64-34 vote Thursday to fill the spot on the seven-member board reserved for someone with community banking experience.
Bowman is a fifth-generation banker from Council Grove who became Kansas banking commissioner, the state’s top banking regulator, in January 2017.
“Michelle Bowman will bring a unique and important perspective to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. Her distinguished leadership in the Kansas banking community, her experience as Kansas Bank Commissioner and her small-town Kansas roots will make her an exceptional member of the Board,” Sen. Jerry Moran said in a statement.
Bowman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from Washburn University. She also has been director of congressional and intergovernmental affairs for FEMA and a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
With her confirmation, President Donald Trump has now filled three vacant seats on the Fed board. He also nominated Jerome Powell to be Fed chairman, choosing not to tap former Fed Chair Janet Yellen for a second term.
Trump in recent weeks has leveled pointed attacks on the Fed’s effort to raise interest rates to keep the economy from overheating, calling it his “biggest threat.” The Fed has hiked rates three times this year and is expected to do so again in December.
Powell, speaking Wednesday night to an audience in Dallas, addressed Trump’s criticism without mentioning the president. He said that the Fed’s accountability was really to Congress, which created the central bank more than a century ago. Congress has directed the Fed to pursue the goals of maximum employment and stable prices.
“We have a very important job that Congress has assigned us and we have the tools to do it,” Powell said. “We’re just trying to do our jobs and we’re doing fine.”
Trump’s other choices have included Columbia University professor Richard Clarida for Fed vice chairman and Utah investment banker Randal Quarles for the Fed’s vice chairman for bank supervision.
Carnegie Mellon University professor Marvin Goodfriend was nominated for another vacancy on the Fed board, but that selection has run into opposition and has not been brought up for a vote by the full Senate.
The president’s latest nomination was of Nellie Liang, a longtime Fed official who headed up the financial stability division that the Fed created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Liang’s efforts on bank regulation have raised questions among some Republican lawmakers.
Contributing: Eagle staff
This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 2:17 PM.