President’s nominee to lead banking agency withdraws

Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s pick to serve as a top banking regulator, has withdrawn her nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The Cornell University law professor, an outspoken critic of Wall Street banks, had been in line to oversee them as comptroller of the currency. Omarova had faced pushback to her nomination from Republicans as well as moderate Democrats.

In a statement Tuesday, Biden said he had accepted Omarova’s request to withdraw her nomination and would continue to work to find a nominee for the position.

“As a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch defender of the safety and soundness of our financial system, Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people,” he stated. “But unfortunately, from the very beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.”

During Omarova’s confirmation hearing last month, Sen. John Neely Kennedy, RLa., had suggested that her upbringing in Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan indicated a possible communist loyalty.

“I don’t know whether to call you ‘professor’ or ‘comrade,’ ” Kennedy told Omarova, who pushed back and said her family had suffered under the communist regime.

“Senator, I’m not a Communist,” Omarova said. “I do not subscribe to that ideology. I could not choose where I was born.”

But her nomination was fraught for other reasons. Senate Republicans were expected to oppose her confirmation unanimously, meaning a single Democratic defection in the evenly divided chamber would have sunk her bid.

A handful of moderate Senate Democrats had expressed concerns about Omarova’s views, and private meetings with her did not appear to have assuaged them.