U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead

Feb 17

The Coming CFPB Restructuring Battle, No More Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, The OCC, CFTC, and CFPB All Get Nominees, and the New House Monetary Policy Task Force

February 17 - 21, 2025

The Coming CFPB Restructuring Battle, No More Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, The OCC, CFTC, and CFPB All Get Nominees, and the New House Monetary Policy Task Force

Washington is enjoying a holiday-shortened week, with President’s Day on Monday. The House of Representatives is out of session this week in honor of the day, but the Senate remains in session and is working hard to move forward with the budget reconciliation bill.

Last week, we saw action in nominating several important regulatory agencies. President Trump named Jonathan McKernan to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Jonathan Gould to be the new Comptroller of the Currency (only two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent named Rodney Hood as the Acting Head of the OCC), and Brian Quintenz as the Chair of the Commodities Future Trading Commission. We are tracking when their respective Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearings will be scheduled (as well as Paul Atkins for SEC Chair).

What was particularly interesting about the nominations is those that were not named: No new Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision or new Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair. In addition to this, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jay Powell’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, where he questioned whether the Fed needed a dedicated regulatory-focused board member and whether the entire board itself should be responsible. Knowing Jay Powell, he does not just muse out loud – he’s a cautious man, and he would not say this without there being something going on behind the scenes. Regulatory players around town we spoke to wondered out loud if the White House has discussed not nominating a replacement for outgoing Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr – talk about deregulation!

Speaking of deregulatory efforts, the Trump Administration continues to grind down the CFPB. It is clear to us that they want to either shut down the agency, fold it into either the FDIC or Fed, or break it apart and send the parts to both agencies. We have also heard more chatter about merging the OCC with the FDIC (which we think is a long shot).

However, seeing that the Republican-run US Congress is likely to pass two reconciliation bills this year, we have been wondering if the Trump White House is going to include significant financial regulatory restructuring in one or both bills. You cannot filibuster a Reconciliation bill – making it easier for Republicans to restructure the agencies. When you think of it, many other government departments and agencies could be consolidated or shut down via reconciliation. Looking at the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, it calls for the shutting down of the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Homeland Security etc., etc. No one is talking about this potential radical restructuring of the federal governmental architecture – but you have to wonder what surprises President Trump has in store via the work of Elon Musk’s DOGE and the analysis of his very ambitious Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Voight.

Below is what else we are watching in the Washington financial regulatory world this coming week:

U.S. Congressional Hearings

U.S. Senate

· Wednesday, February 19, 10:00 a.m. – The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Department of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

· Thursday, February 20, 10:00 a.m. – The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education.

House of Representatives

· The House of Representatives is out of session this week in honor of President’s Day (Monday). No hearings are scheduled.

Federal Department & Regulatory Agency Meetings & Events

Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks

· Monday, February 17, 10:20 a.m. MT – Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman will give brief remarks on the economy and bank regulation at the American Bankers Association (ABA) Conference for Community Bankers, Phoenix, Arizona.

· Monday, February 17, 6:00 p.m. Sydney, Australia – Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller gives a speech on the economic outlook at the UNSW Macroeconomic Workshop, Sydney, Australia.

· Monday, February 17, 10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker speaks on the economic outlook before the Global Interdependence Center Central Banking Series Conference with the University of the Bahamas.

· Tuesday, February 18, 1:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Michael Barr will give a speech on Artificial Intelligence and Financial Stability at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

· Tuesday, February 18, 9:00 a.m. – San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly speaks and participates in a moderated discussion before the 2025 Conference for Community Bankers hosted by the American Bankers Association.

· Wednesday, February 19, 5:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson gives a speech entitled “Household Balance Sheets” at the Martin H. Crego Lecture in Economics, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.

· Thursday, February 20, 2:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr gives a speech on supervision and regulation at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

· Thursday, February 20, 5:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Board Governor Adriana Kugler gives a speech entitled “Navigating Inflation Waves While Riding on the Phillips Curve” at the 2025 Whittington Lecture, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

· Thursday, February 20, 12:00 p.m. – St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem speaks and participates in a moderated conversation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before the Economic Club of New York.

· Thursday, February 20, 12:00 p.m. – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee participates in a moderated question-and-answer session before the Chicagoland Chamber Mid-Market Chicago event.

· Friday, February 21, 11:30 a.m. PST – Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip N. Jefferson gives a speech on Central Bank Communication at the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

U.S. Treasury Department