WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, President, CEO and Co-founder of Better Markets, issued the following statement ahead of this week’s Senate Banking Committee vote on Governor Michelle Bowman’s nomination to become Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Fed”).

“Trump has nominated Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman to become one of the most important financial regulators in the US and the world, the Vice Chair for Supervision at the Fed. However, it is not clear that she would oppose one single priority of Wall Street’s biggest, most dangerous banks. That’s not a regulator; that’s a cheerleader who will almost certainly repeat the grievous mistakes of the past. Frankly, Trump should give up the pretense and just nominate a Wall Street banker or lobbyist for the position.

“The Vice Chair for Supervision position was created in response to the devastating 2008 crash because the Fed for years failed miserably to properly regulate and supervise Wall Street’s megabanks. As a result, those banks engaged in widespread reckless, predatory, and illegal activities that enriched Wall Street, but inflicted horrific losses on Main Street Americans, including throwing 27 million out of work, causing 16 million foreclosure filings, and pushing 40% of homes under water, while Wall Street got trillions of dollars in bailouts.

“The next Vice Chair for Supervision is supposed to make sure that never happens again, which will require someone to stand up to the power and influence of Wall Street. To our surprise and regret (as indicated by our welcome of Gov. Bowman to the Fed in 2018), that is not Gov. Bowman, who has consistently championed the priorities of Wall Street’s biggest banks, including advocating for far reaching deregulation, which makes future crises, crashes, and Wall Street bailouts much more likely.

“Gov. Bowman’s own words and actions should make any reasonable person question her qualifications for this role, including her testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee (“Committee”) on April 10, 2025. Primary among her troubling actions was voting against proposing key reforms to bank capital requirements that were focused on the largest banks in the world, would have strengthened the banking system, and protected taxpayers from future bailouts. She also voted against modernizing the 40 year old Community Reinvestment Act, voted against strengthening third-party risk management standards for banks to protect against bank-fintech partnerships such as the Synapse debacle which cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost deposits, and voted against guidance that would hold the largest banks accountable for managing climate-related financial risk. And as detailed in Better Markets’ fact sheet, what Gov. Bowman said during the testimony, as well as what she would not say, showed a dangerous disregard for the rules and laws that govern the U.S. banking system and form the foundation that has made that banking system the envy of the world and underpin the trust and confidence of all Americans in that system.

“Adding insult to injury, Gov. Bowman is the community bank representative on the Fed and, as such, is supposed to be standing up for the needs of Main Street Americans, which are served by community banks (as detailed in this Community Bank Report). That’s why we welcomed her to the Fed in 2018 and why her statements and actions have been so disappointing. Rather than being a counterweight to Wall Street, she has enabled Wall Street to use community banks as cover for their deregulation agenda, even though Wall Street’s actions are a direct threat to community banks, as proved by the 2008 crash: ‘Between January 2008 and December 2011 … 414 insured U.S. banks failed. Of these, 85 percent (353) were small institutions with less than $1 billion in assets,’ according to the GAO. Deregulating and delivering for Wall Street won’t protect Main Street Americans or community banks, who are going to suffer again in the next crash.

“These are the facts that Senators should consider when deciding how to vote on Gov. Bowman’s nomination for Vice Chair for Supervision at the Fed.”

The Fact Sheet on Gov. Bowman’s qualifications for the position of Vice Chair Supervision at the Fed is available here and commentary on her Senate Banking Committee testimony is available here.

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.