OCC nominee faces rocky path to Senate confirmation
By Brendan Pedersen
It took the Biden administration nine months to settle on a nominee to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, passing over other candidates along the way. The process to get Saule Omarova approved by the Senate does not appear it will be any easier. To say that Omarova’s nomination has stoked controversy is putting it lightly. Industry trade groups have all voiced public concerns about her views as an academic, suggesting some moderate Democrats may vote against the confirmation….Some analysts suggest Omarova’s nomination — seen by some as a dramatic win for progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio — may be an attempt to persuade liberals not to fight a potential reappointment of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. “Professor Omarova is more than progressive and lacks the agency and industry credentials that strengthen other controversial appointees such as Gary Gensler and Rohit Chopra,” said Karen Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, in a research note this week. “This résumé gap makes confirmation still more questionable, but I doubt confirmation was the point here.”
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/occ-nominee-faces-rocky-path-to-senate-confirmation