Trump Readies Shortlist For Financial Agencies

The Scoop

The Donald Trump team is building its list of candidates to run financial regulatory agencies, people familiar with the process said.

Whoever runs the slew of federal overseers will be in charge of expected attempts to rollback some consumer protections and capital regulations for big banks, and potentially a long-awaited overhaul of the nation’s mortgage system.

Jonathan McKernan, one of two current Republicans on the FDIC board, may be tapped for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the people said.

Getting the two mortgage giants out of government conservatorship, where they’ve been since 2008, and back into shareholders’ hands has been a long-time goal of conservatives. The combined agencies have about half the $300 billion in capital that the Biden administration said they need to go public, though a Trump appointee could waive that.

“The conservatorship was supposed to be temporary, to allow time for both Fannie and Freddie to rebuild their capital,” Trump economic adviser John Paulson told Semafor. “They have.”

Brian Johnson and Craig Phillips are among those under consideration to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the people said. Johnson was a deputy director at the CFPB during Trump’s first presidency, while Phillips served as counselor to the Treasury Secretary during that time.

While financial regulation isn’t high on Trump’s stated agenda — Project 2025 suggested getting rid of the CFPB entirely — Trump supports a cap on credit card fees, which would likely land on the agency’s plate. (He has a willing partner in Sen. Bernie Sanders.)

Jelena McWilliams has expressed interest in Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr’s job, but not if it means stepping into a messy political drama that could undermine independence of the Fed — for example, if Barr gets fired or demoted.

McWilliams faced her own personnel drama in the Joe Biden administration, when she was essentially pushed out as chair of the FDIC in 2022 by the Democratic members of the agency’s board.