It’s been several decades since a former banker chaired the House Financial Services Committee. That’s about to change. House Republicans on Thursday tapped Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) to replace retiring Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) atop the panel overseeing Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and cryptocurrency next year. Lawmakers who helped make the decision said they were swayed by Hill’s experience as head of a community bank — and that they expected that resume to drive an agenda of deregulation when the GOP wields control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. “When you're an operator and not just a policymaker, it changes your perspective for the better, because you've got to be able to connect the dots,” House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who serves on the steering committee that made the recommendation, said in an interview after the vote. “Hill’s experience will close the gap on the unintended consequences that occur even with Republicans, who have the best of intentions and the purest motives — but they've never run a bank, and they've never been out there competing in the marketplace, and they don't know what it's like to have to bear the cost of compliance and still make a buck for their shareholders and keep costs low for their customers.” Hill beat out Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who was seen as the frontrunner, and Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) for the job. The former Treasury official hit his private-sector background hard in his presentation, members in the room said, and that helped put him over the top in a second ballot. “He was born for that job,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, who’s stayed mostly out of the fray in the chair votes, told our Jasper Goodman following Hill’s win. Who else is happy: Committee Democrats. Hill is well-liked across the aisle — Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said earlier this week it was “easier to see a collaboration” with him — and members and aides on the left celebrated his selection accordingly. “I was delighted,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), another former banker and personal friend of Hill’s who also serves on House Financial Services, said in an interview. “He’s a little less ideological than some of the candidates.” Hill’s recommendation is also a big win for crypto firms, which were pulling for the Republican before he even officially entered the race. Hill played a lead role in getting McHenry’s industry-sought overhaul of digital assets regulation across the finish line in the House — with the support of more than 70 Democrats — and is expected to prioritize finishing the job once he gets the gavel. “With French Hill at the helm, Republicans will build on our work from this Congress to finally enact a clear regulatory framework and robust consumer protections for the digital assets ecosystem,” McHenry said in a statement. What else he’ll do: Himes said he hoped Hill would work across the aisle on overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Hill outlined dozens of other policy priorities in a brochure he distributed to steering committee members last month and in a policy blueprint he dubbed “Making Community Banks Great Again.” “He had a plan, pretty much, for digital assets; he has a great plan for housing; he has a great plan for insurance; he has a great plan for banking,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who serves on the steering committee and House Financial Services, told Jasper. “I mean, he had a plan for everything.” Hill’s proposing to make fewer banks subject to key regulations and CFPB oversight; expedite bank mergers; and require bank agencies to review “the cumulative impact of their regulations.” He also wants to create a staff-level role of “chief economist” to “better equip and brief” the GOP conference on financial policy and a member-level role of the committee’s “communicator” responsible for ensuring that "every member [is] briefed and prepared.” Of course, Hill will also play a key role in helping House Republicans shape the spending packages that they’ll push through next year using the reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority to pass. “That committee is at the center of so much of the reform that we’ll be doing in the reconciliation package,” Johnson told Jasper. “You need a leader there that has a lot of acumen in those areas, and he does. So, he’ll be a central part of what we’re doing in the first 100 days and beyond.” Steering committee members meet again today and are expected to decide which members should be appointed to House Financial Services. Reps. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), as well as Reps.-elect Troy Downing (R-Mont.), Brandon Gill (R-Texas) and Nellie Pou (D-N.J.) are among those aides and lobbyists have said are interested in joining the panel. IT'S FRIDAY — And we couldn’t be happier that this week is (almost) over. Get in touch with Eleanor at emueller@politico.com and Sam at ssutton@politico.com.
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