There are now officially five members of the Federal Reserve Board with the swearing in Monday of the newest member, Michelle W. (“Miki”) Bowman. Two seats remain open on the seven-member board.
The Fed said Monday that Bowman took the oath of office administered by Fed Chairman Jerome H. (Jay) Powell in the board room at the Fed’s Washington headquarters. Bowman was accompanied by her husband and her two children, the Fed said.
The former Kansas State Bank Commissioner, Bowman was nominated April 16 by President Donald Trump to fill the remainder of a 14-year term that ends in 2020. She is from a community banking family and is herself a former banker, the Fed has said.
In testimony on her nomination before the Senate Banking Committee May 15, Bowman acknowledged weaknesses of the financial system revealed during the financial crisis but also said the regulatory environment since then has “disadvantaged” community banks.
“If confirmed, I will bring this perspective to my work at the Board to ensure that rules preserve the resiliency of the financial system, but are appropriately tailored to the size, complexity, and risk of an institution,” she testified.
She was recommended for confirmation by the Senate Banking Committee June 12 on an 18-7 vote; she was confirmed by the Senate last month on a vote of 64-34.
Two seats on the Fed board remained unfilled, although nominations have been submitted by Trump for both (and one of those nominations is pending before the Senate). The nomination of Marvin Goodfriend was recommended for confirmation to the Senate by the Banking Committee Feb. 8 (he was nominated nearly a year ago).
Jean Nellie Liang was nominated by the White House in September; the Senate Banking Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on her nomination.
Michelle W. Bowman sworn in as member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System