The White House announced President Joe Biden’s two Republican nominees to serve on the board of directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).
The FDIC board of directors has five members, two of whom are the Comptroller of the Currency and the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – currently Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. They join the FDIC Acting Chair Martin Gruenberg to comprise the three-seat Democrat majority on the board. The law requires that no more than three members of the FDIC board be from the same political party.
The two nominees are:
- Travis Hill, who has been nominated to also serve as vice chair of the board, worked at the FDIC from 2018 to 2022 as senior advisor to former Chair Jelena McWilliams and as deputy to the chair for policy. Hill previously served as senior counsel at the Senate Banking Committee, where he worked from 2013 to 2018.
- Jonathan McKernan is senior counsel at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). He is currently on detail from FHFA to the Senate Banking Committee, where her serves as counsel on the committee’s minority staff. McKernan previously served as senior policy advisor at the Treasury Department and to former-Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
These nominees will be subjected to a review and questioning from the Senate Banking Committee prior to a full committee vote to send them to the floor of the Senate for confirmation.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chair of the committee, released a statement following the announcement of these nominations.
“The FDIC keeps our banking system safe, insures our deposits and helps support our nation’s smallest banks,” Brown said. “It requires experienced leadership and a board that will focus on protecting our economy from risks, increasing access to affordable financial services to consumers, and ensuring that banks honor their commitment to communities across the country through the Community Reinvestment Act. I look forward to reviewing and evaluating these nominees’ qualifications and experience to determine if they are the right fit for the FDIC.”