By Pete Schroeder and Michelle Price
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Christy Goldsmith Romero will likely get enough votes to be confirmed as chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, but Republicans are likely to slow the process.
President Joe Biden last week nominated Goldsmith Romero, Democratic commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to replace Martin Gruenberg, who is resigning after an investigation found widespread sexual harassment at the agency.
Beyond safeguarding deposits and supervising banks, the FDIC is a key player in efforts to write rules that would impose new barriers on banks and their executives. Goldsmith Romero's confirmation just months before November's presidential and congressional elections could stabilize the agency's leadership for years to come.
The White House wants her to be confirmed as soon as possible, a person familiar with the process said, and Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee that handles FDIC nominees, is aiming for an ambitious timeline. His goal is to hold his first hearing the week of July 8, Reuters reported.
Nominees need 51 votes to be confirmed in the evenly divided Senate, where Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie, but in the past fierce opposition from Republicans and industry groups has created rifts among Democrats and derailed the process.
While that is unlikely in the case of Goldsmith Romero, the prominence of the role and the contentious dynamics of the Senate will likely slow the process, leaving Gruenberg potentially waiting a few more months, according to analysts and Washington insiders.
“The most likely scenario in our view is that this nomination moves slowly, will face some headwinds… and will stall in the near term,” Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at brokerage BTIG, wrote in an email. to Reuters.
Goldsmith Romero, an experienced law enforcement attorney who previously oversaw a bank bailout program during the 2009 crisis, is backed by Democratic progressives but is generally considered an uncontroversial pick and has influential supporters in the Republican circles, two of the people said. She had previously been unanimously confirmed by the Senate on two occasions.
Brad Bondi, a prominent Washington lawyer and registered Republican who has known Goldsmith Romero for more than a decade, told Reuters she was an “honest, smart, hard-working and fair” consensus builder who would work across party lines.
Top congressional Republicans took a neutral tone on Goldsmith Romero last week, and Sen. Tim Scott, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said he would review his qualifications for the job.
His team has not yet taken a stance on his nomination, a person briefed on the matter said.
To be sure, past casualties of the nomination process show that prior Republican support does not guarantee success.
Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew her nomination for the top Federal Reserve regulatory job in 2022 after moderate Senate Democrat Joe Manchin joined Republicans in refusing to support her over her past comments on climate change. She had been unanimously approved for a position at the Federal Reserve in 2010 and a position at the Treasury Department in 2014.
And aside from the FDIC's cultural issues, there are other high-stakes issues on the table. The FDIC is still grappling with the fallout from last year's bank failures that exposed oversight problems at the agency, and is trying to finalize bank capital increases and other rules on bank debt, executive compensation and mergers. opposed by Wall Street banks and many Republicans. .
But the Republicans' statements suggest that “they may not go all out to defeat Goldsmith Romero and will declare victory for having unseated Gruenberg,” said Ian Katz, managing director at policy research firm Capital Alpha Partners.
Goldsmith Romero and an FDIC spokesman declined to comment. In a statement to Reuters, Brown said her goal was to “get her to this position as quickly as possible.”
LAND VOTING
Still, Republicans will likely force a lengthy confirmation process, giving them more time to embarrass Democrats over their handling of the FDIC scandal and to grill Goldsmith Romero about his stance on capital raises and other rules. the analysts said.
Some critics of Goldsmith Romero's nomination say she lacks the banking supervision experience needed for the job, while hardline Republicans have vowed to oppose Biden's nominees to protest former President Donald Trump's conviction last month. .
If a senator objects to a nominee, his or her confirmation must go through a full Senate debate and recorded vote, which could consume hours of limited time since the chamber will be idle for most of the summer until early September.
A Senate aide said a floor vote was the most likely path.
While Republicans have called for Gruenberg to resign, they may also see a strategic advantage in allowing the process to drag out into November, analysts said. If presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump retakes the White House, he could shift the balance of power at the FDIC toward Republicans who could unseat Gruenberg more easily than a newly confirmed Goldsmith Romero, allowing Trump to nominate a Republican in Gruenberg place.
Goldsmith Romero's nomination will also compete with other Democratic priorities, including lifetime judicial nominees and so-called messaging bills on hot-button issues like reproductive rights that Democrats hope to use to highlight distinctions with Republicans before the election.
After September, senators are scheduled to campaign in their home states instead of Washington.
Raymond James analyst Ed Mills wrote Friday that Goldsmith Romero's nomination was likely. “But a short time period and limited number of Senate session days introduce some uncertainty.”
(Writing and reporting by Michelle Price. Reporting by Pete Schroeder. Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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