Business

Biden’s Top Bank Cop Who Oversaw Wave Of Regional Failures Resigns Ahead Of Potential Fight With Trump

Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision, announced that he would step down on Monday amid speculation President-elect Donald Trump would move to fire or demote him before the conclusion of his term in 2026.

Barr, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022, said he will resign from the role by Feb. 28 or earlier but will continue to serve as a member of the Fed’s Reserve Board, according to a press release from the central bank. His departure from the nation’s top banking supervision role helps clear the way for Trump to reform financial regulations and prevents the legal battle that could have arisen if the president-elect had moved to fire or demote him.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Federal Reserve Board’s vice chair for supervision, and to work with colleagues to help maintain the stability and strength of the U.S. financial system so that it can meet the needs of American families and businesses,” Barr said in the release. “The position of vice chair for supervision was created after the Global Financial Crisis to create greater responsibility, transparency, and accountability for the Federal Reserve’s supervision and regulation of the financial system. The risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission. In the current environment, I’ve determined that I would be more effective in serving the American people from my role as governor.”

Barr had attempted to overhaul banking regulations during his time as vice chair, pushing to hike reserve requirements — the amount of cash banks are legally required to keep on hand — for banks holding $250 billion or more in assets by 20%, before amending the regulation to a much smaller increase of 9%.

The proposed requirements, titled Basel III endgame, were slated to increase the cost of borrowing, with E.J. Antoni, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, previously telling the Daily Caller News Foundation the regulation change would disproportionately hurt average Americans while not addressing the current issues in the banking system: “I think the burden of this regulation will fall disproportionately on individual borrowers and small businesses … What’s going to happen is that credit will be less profitable for the lender. And so then the only way the lender is actually going to offer that credit is going to be at a higher interest rate because they have to offset the additional cost with additional revenue, and their revenue obviously comes from the interest on loans. So effectively, what you’re going to do is raise the cost of credit and raise the interest rate on all these different types of credit. So it could be a mortgage, it could be a credit card — lots of different things.”

In addition to Basel III, Barr also oversaw a wave of regional bank failures in the spring of 2023, including Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and Signature Bank.

Barr sought legal counsel from law firm Arnold & Porter in the weeks prior to his resignation amid rumors the incoming White House would seek more influence over the Fed, according to Reuters.

Barr’s resignation comes after Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent had reportedly asked candidates for high-ranking financial positions if they thought Barr could and should be demoted, according to The Washington Post. Unlike Barr, Trump has previously sought to cut red tape for banks, signing a law in 2018 that raised the minimum asset amount for a bank to be considered “systemically important,” and thus subject to various regulations, from $50 billion to $250 billion.

“The Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision is mandated by law to oversee the safety and soundness of our banking system,” incoming Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina wrote in an X post touting Barr’s resignation Monday. “From his supervisory failures during the Spring 2023 bank failures to the disastrous Basel III Endgame proposal — Michael Barr has failed to meet the responsibilities of his position. I stand ready to work with President Trump to ensure we have responsible financial regulators at the helm.”

The Federal Reserve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.