Trump to name Michelle Bowman as top bank regulator at Federal Reserve

The Trump administration is expected to choose Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman to be the central bank’s top financial regulator, according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bowman, who has been a member of the Fed's governing board for six years, would replace Michael Barr, who stepped down last month. Barr, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, came under attack from big U.S. banks after proposing that they hold more capital in reserve in a 2023 regulatory reform proposal. Bowman's appointment was reported earlier Wednesday by Bloomberg News.

Bowman, along with Fed governor Christopher Waller, voted against Barr's proposal. She was appointed to the Fed's governing board by President Donald Trump in 2018 during his first term in the White House.

Barr resigned from his post as vice chair for supervision but has remained on the Fed's seven-member board of governors. As a result, Trump was forced to choose from among the existing seven governors, rather than appointing someone from outside the Fed.

Prior to joining the Fed, Bowman was the state bank commissioner in Kanas in 2017-2018, after serving as vice president at a local bank. She also had previous stints in Washington at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.