Fed nominee Bowman advances to final vote in Senate

The Senate on Wednesday advanced President Trump’s nomination of Michelle Bowman to the Federal Reserve Board and is expected to confirm the former Kansas bank supervisor later this week.

Senators voted 63-36 to end debate on Bowman’s nomination to fill the Fed board seat reserved for officials with community bank experience.

{mosads}Thirteen Democratic senators broke party ranks to support Bowman, a Republican, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the sole GOP member to oppose her nomination.

Bowman is on track to be confirmed before the end of the week. She previously served as Kansas’ chief bank regulator and vice president at Farmers & Drovers Bank, a Kansas bank that reported $181 million in assets in 2017.

Bowman was nominated to the Fed in April alongside Fed vice chairman Richard Clarida. The Senate Banking Committee approved their nominations in June, and the full Senate confirmed Clarida in August.

The Kansan would be Trump’s third addition to the Fed board, joining Clarida and Randal Quarles, the Fed vice chairman of supervision. She’d also serve with two appointees of former President Obama: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who Trump promoted to lead the bank in 2017, and Governor Lael Brainard.