WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Monday his intent to nominate Kansas banking commissioner Michelle "Miki" Bowman and Columbia University economist Richard Clarida to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Clarida was tapped as vice chairman of the Fed with a focus on monetary policy, while Bowman would take the spot designated for community bank expertise.
Community bank groups immediately praised Bowman, who, if confirmed, would serve the remainder of a 14-year term ending in 2020.
“Bowman is ideal for the community banker seat on the Federal Reserve Board,” said Camden Fine, president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America. “No better banker or administrator could have been named by the president to this position. ICBA enthusiastically endorses Ms. Bowman and will push for quick confirmation by the Senate.”
Bowman, who was confirmed unanimously by the Kansas Senate as commissioner in January 2017, is a fifth-generation banker. She joined Farmers & Drovers Bank as vice president in 2010, just as Dodd-Frank Act regulations were about to take effect.
She also has worked on Capitol Hill as a staffer for former GOP Sen. Bob Dole and as counsel to the House Transportation and Oversight committees.
After the 9/11 attacks, Bowman was nominated by President George W. Bush to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as congressional and intergovernmental affairs director. Upon the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, she became deputy assistant secretary and policy adviser to Secretary Tom Ridge.
Clarida, meanwhile, would serve the remainder of a 14-year term expiring in 2022 if confirmed. He has worked at Columbia since 1988, and was a professor at Yale University before joining at Columbia.
Clarida was also a senior staff economist with President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He received a medal for his outstanding service for his work as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department in 2002.
Since 2006, Clarida has been global strategic adviser for Pimco. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“Rich Clarida is an ideal choice to serve as vice chairman," Rob Nichols, the president of the American Bankers Association, said in a press release. "He is a widely respected economist with a keen understanding of monetary policy and financial markets. As a former colleague of mine in the Treasury Department, I also know Rich is a dedicated public servant who will work well with his board colleagues."
Trump also announced he intends to nominate WilmerHale lawyer Dan Michael Berkovitz to be a Democratic member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the remainder of a five-year term expiring in 2023.
Berkovitz served as general counsel of the CFTC, where he was the deputy representative to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
The latest picks come as Marvin Goodfriend, whose nomination as a Fed governor is in jeopardy due to opposition by Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul, continues to await full Senate confirmation. President Trump still has one remaining spot to name for the Fed's seven-member Board of Governors.
