Tag: OCC

The Trump administration is waiting for Scott Bessent to be confirmed as treasury secretary and for other appointees to be confirmed by the Senate before naming Republican acting heads at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to banking experts.

President Donald Trump has spent many of the first days of his second term issuing executive orders on a range of topics, many of them only tangentially related to financial regulation. Though personnel change with any administration, some banking experts — who would not speak on the record when discussing internal personnel matters — say Trump is likely looking to have more of his top-line picks confirmed by the Senate before moving on to undercard agency heads. 

“I think we will see the moves after they get a few more confirmations done,” said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at BTIG. “The Trump administration could be waiting to have a few more Senate-confirmed officials in place.”

Dozens of multimember agencies across the federal government are subject to partisan balance requirements. Finding the right person for the job is compounded by political dynamics and the historical difficulties of filling certain positions such as the job of CFPB director, the banking experts said. 

“Just because Trump doesn’t do something on Day 1 doesn’t mean it’s not a priority,” said Edward Mills, managing director at Raymond James. “Sometimes within bank regulations, personnel is policy … but the administration is going to be driving the policy, not the personnel. The personnel are going to implement what the Trump team wants to implement.”

The Trump administration has been stalled in filling posts for the CFPB and the OCC, in part, by longstanding tradition that has entitled the minority party to fill two of the five seats on the FDIC’s board. The board is composed of a chairman, a vice chair, the heads of the CFPB and the OCC, and one board member of the opposition party.

“As soon as Trump replaces the heads of the OCC and CFPB, there will be too many Republicans on the five-member board and one of them will need to depart,” Boltansky wrote in a research note.

The FDIC is led by acting Chairman Travis Hill, who is a Republican, as is FDIC Commissioner Jonathan McKernan. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra are Democrats appointed by former President Joe Biden. There is one vacant seat on the board after former Chair Martin Gruenberg retired on Jan. 19.  

The matter is further complicated because of federal laws governing interim appointments. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act stipulates that the first deputy at an agency is the acting agency head by default when a vacancy arises but allows the president to select an acting director who has been previously Senate-confirmed if they choose. That limits Trump’s options to immediately fill those roles. 

Many banking experts said the administration wants input from Bessent on who should lead those agencies — a list that could include himself, on an acting basis, once he has been Senate-confirmed. The experts also think one of Trump’s closest policy advisors, Russ Vought, his nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, could also be picked to lead the CFPB on an acting basis. Vought is one of the authors of Project 2025, the blueprint for remaking the federal government by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. His name has been floated as among the potential candidates to take on the added responsibilities of another agency.

“Once the Senate confirms Russ Vought to head the OMB, for example, he could take control of the Bureau under the terms of the Vacancy Act,” Boltansky wrote in a recent research note. 

Another way around FDIC board’s balance requirements would be to appoint Hill or McKernan to temporarily fill the top jobs either at the CFPB or the OCC. As treasury secretary, Bessent could also select someone to serve as first deputy comptroller of the currency and fire Hsu, thus filling the OCC role with an acting director of Trump and Bessent’s choosing. Former OCC General Counsel Jonathan Gould is widely thought to be a leading contender for that role, should Trump and Bessent choose that path. 

The National Economic Council also plays a role in ensuring that policy is aligned with the president’s economic goals and monitors the implementation of the economic agenda, Mills said.

“They want to make sure on these [agency] picks that they have someone that aligns with their priorities,” he added.  

There is also the question of whether the administration will follow through with plans outlined in The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 report to consolidate federal regulators. Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur tapped to head the recently formalized Department of Government Efficiency, mused last month that the CFPB should be eliminated, and reports emerged earlier this month that the administration was taking a similarly critical look at the future of the FDIC as well.

But the momentum behind a broad reorganization of the bank regulatory apparatus appears to be waning. Bessent, founder of the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, said during his confirmation hearing last week that he supported the system of federal banking regulators, including the FDIC. 

Bessent was asked to respond in written comments on whether the Treasury Department is well suited to perform the functions of the FDIC, including serving as the primary regulator of more than 3,000 banks. In those comments, he signaled his support for the FDIC.

“The statutory authority of the FDIC is distinct from that of the Department of the Treasury, and if confirmed, I look forward to working with the new leadership of the FDIC to promote the safety, soundness, and vibrancy of our banks,” Bessent responded. 

Mills said that the Trump administration has backed away from the idea of consolidating federal financial regulators because it would require Congress to act, and the administration would rather push other legislative priorities first. 

“They are not going to get Congress to tackle that any time soon,” Mills said.