Michelle Bowman’s Confirmation as Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision is a Gift to Wall Street, Fossil Fuel Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman to be the next vice chair for supervision, the Federal Reserve’s lead role for bank regulation. Bowman’s confirmation will accelerate the Federal Reserve’s alarming about-face on numerous regulatory issues, including climate-related financial risk and bank capital requirements, since the beginning of the Trump administration.
In response, Elyse Schupak, policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“The vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve must be committed to measuring and mitigating all risks to the financial system, even if doing so conflicts with Trump Administration priorities or the preferences of Wall Street executives.
“As climate change drives a crisis in homeowners insurance and threatens the viability of local economies, it is the Federal Reserve’s responsibility to mitigate these risks to financial institutions, promote financial stability, and ensure equitable access to credit. Bowman’s record of minimizing the importance of climate impacts on the financial system and downplaying the Federal Reserve’s role in mitigating climate-related financial risk demonstrates she is the wrong choice for the role.
“In a moment of unprecedented corporate influence and rampant corruption in the federal government while significant economic and financial uncertainty continues to gather, we need leadership that is focused on real risks and real impacts to the financial system and Americans who rely on it. Confirming regulators who will roll back safeguards and loosen regulatory requirements for banks will only exacerbate vulnerabilities already present in the financial system.”
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