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After a night of record-breaking temperatures and snowfall, residents of Ann Arbor came together to adorn the wintry landscape with cheerful snowmen outside their residences.

President Joe Biden is expected 

to nominate Michael Barr, dean 
of the University of Michigan’s 
Ford School of Public Policy, as 
comptroller of the currency, a 
role that involves regulation of 
the banking industry. Following 
the initial report from The 
Wall 
Street 
Journal, 
some 

Democrats 
are 
disappointed 

with the appointment, preferring 
University 
of 
California-

Irvine law professor and more 
progressive candidate Mehrsa 
Baradaran over Barr.

As comptroller of the currency, 

Barr would be in charge of 
overseeing and regulating the 
federal banking system, ensuring 
banks operate in a safe manner 
and setting the standards for 
their activities in minority and 
low-income areas.

Barr 
previously 
criticized 

the 
Trump 
administration’s 

handling of banking regulation, 
such as a reduction in consumer 
protection laws and the lack 
of action taken to address the 
COVID-19 pandemic, which have 
had detrimental effects on banks.

Barr 
worked 
in 
several 

Treasury and State Department 
roles 
during 
the 
Clinton 

administration and served as an 
assistant secretary of the treasury 
under the Obama administration. 
Barr contributed to the 2010 
Dodd-Frank Act, which changed 
financial regulations to reduce 
the economic impact of the 2008 
Great Recession.

The Michigan Daily spoke 

to some progressive University 
of Michigan students to gauge 
their thoughts on Barr’s likely 
nomination.

Public Policy senior Kerrigan 

McCabe believes that Barr’s 
previous experience makes him 
well fit for comptroller of the 
currency.

“Barr has such a long history 

working on economic regulations 
and protecting consumers, so 
I think he’s very well fit for 
the job,” McCabe said. “Barr’s 
appointment makes sense with 
what the Biden administration 
has promised voters about what 
the economic landscape is going 
to look like in the future.”

Recently, 
Barr 
served 
as 

an 
adviser 
to 
the 
Alliance 

for Innovative Regulation, a 
nonprofit representing financial 
technology firms, which attempts 
to merge financial regulation and 
digital design. 

Critics believe this position 

should 
disqualify 
Barr 
from 

the 
Biden 
administration 

appointment, as the position 
would allow him to grant bank 
charters to companies, including 
firms the Alliance for Innovative 
Regulation may have advised.

Public Policy junior Tuhin 

Chakraborty said he supports 
Barr’s possible appointment and 
disagrees with critics who say his 
financial technology experience 
should disqualify him.

“Fintech 
companies 
are 

rapidly coming into the future 
of the banking and finance 
industries, so Barr’s knowledge of 
tech and future technology will 
be invaluable to revolutionizing 
the finance sector in the coming 
years,” Chakraborty said. “It’s 
easier to work with someone you 
are familiar with. I’d say Barr’s 
work with fintech is the exact 
opposite of a disqualification.”

However, Public Policy junior 

Alexander Zittleman, the action 
co-chair of the Young Democratic 
Socialists of America chapter 
at the University, said he thinks 
Barr should not be appointed to 
the position. 

“I think Barr’s experience with 

fintech firms shows that he’s not 
the right option,” Zittleman said. 
“I don’t think it’s automatically 
disqualifying, but there are other 
candidates who don’t have that 
experience and who aren’t liable 
to having that as their main 
priority.”

Baradaran, 
the 
other 

candidate favored by some, has 
previously 
championed 
racial 

equity and closing the wealth 
gap, 
something 
progressives 

think would make her a good 
choice for comptroller of the 
currency. 

Following 
Biden’s 
repeated 

calls for unity — not only across 
partisan lines but within the 
Democratic 
party 
itself 
— 

many hoped progressives such 
as 
Baradaran 
would 
receive 

appointments. 

Public Policy junior Reuben 

Glasser, resident and founder of 
Michigan Political Consulting, 
wrote in an email to The Daily he 
believes Barr will also be able to 
address the issues of racial equity 
that Baradaran has promoted.

“While I strongly agree that 

closing the racial wealth gap 
should be one of the focuses 
of our Banking Regulator, I’m 
unsure how that disqualifies 
Dean Barr,” Glasser wrote. “I 
have strong faith he will do 
everything in his power to work 
with the administration and 
Congress to do so, while also 

doing a fantastic job on a plethora 
of other issues.”

Recent Public Policy graduate 

Brooke 
Bacigal 
agreed 
with 

Glasser, writing in a statement to 
The Daily she hoped Barr would 
prioritize addressing issues of 
systemic injustice he frequently 
spoke about as dean. 

“In an email to the Ford 

community this past summer 
addressing racial violence and 
police brutality he said ‘as policy 
professionals, we must commit 
ourselves to addressing these 
public challenges, difficulties, 
and 
social 
ills 
directly,’” 

Bacigal wrote. “Now with the 
opportunity to do exactly that, I 
hope that as Comptroller, Dean 
Barr will prioritize addressing 
the 
systemic 
barriers 
that 

have 
perpetuated 
racialized 

economic inequality, strengthen 
financial inclusion and banking 
protections 
for 
minority 

communities, and employ the 
same 
post-crisis 
construction 

of regulations as he did with his 
work on Dodd-Frank, steering 
the OCC.”

Historically, Barr has been 

resistant to more progressive 
limitations 
on 
the 
industry 

suggested by lawmakers, such as 
a stricter version of the Volcker 
Rule, 
which 
prevents 
banks 

from using depositors’ money for 
certain investment activities and 
limits their dealing with covered 
funds.

After the election, in an email 

to Public Policy students, Barr 
congratulated Biden and Harris 
on their win and emphasized the 
importance of working across the 
aisle. 

“I also think it is fair to say, 

that those who have worked 
with President-elect Biden, from 
across the political spectrum, 
whether 
or 
not 
they 
agree 

with him on policy or politics, 
view him as a person of great 
personal integrity, decency, and 
compassion,” Barr wrote.

Chakraborty said he thinks 

Barr’s 
moderate 
stance 
will 

allow for more legislation to be 
passed, as Democrats only have 

50 seats in the Senate — not 
enough to pass legislation with 
the filibuster-proof majority that 
is often necessary. 

“By no means (do Democrats) 

have a mandate to push forth this 
stronger, more progressive clause 
of the Volcker Rule,” Chakraborty 
said. “Barr will moderate policies 
and make them more palatable 
to both the GOP and Democrats 
and will help more efficiently put 
forth bipartisan solutions that 
will be more feasible to turn into 
law.”

On the other hand, Zittleman 

said he believes Baradaran’s 
progressive stance would bring 
about more positive change.

“A lot of the things that 

Baradaran supports are things 
that would directly address issues 
like racial and intergenerational 
wealth 
equality,” 
Zittleman 

said. “Is Biden unifying with 
Republicans across the aisle 
trying to come up with neoliberal 
policy agendas that can work 
for both sides, or is he trying to 
combat white supremacy and 
unify with this multicultural 
tapestry that is America?”

But Glasser emphasized the 

importance 
of 
bipartisanship 

across party lines.

“Right now the country is in 

a bit of disarray on every side, I 
think the choice we, Americans, 
made to elect Biden is a choice of 
healing — in hopes both sides can 
work together,” Glasser wrote. 
“If Dean Barr is a result of trying 
to cultivate more bipartisanship, 
more conversation and better 
results for America, I’m all with 
it.”

Chakraborty 
agreed 
with 

Glasser, stating that unification is 
something Barr would promote. 

“Being able to efficiently work 

with both parties will produce 
the most viable policy that has 
the highest chances of becoming 
law,” Chakraborty said. “It’s 
political, uniting and efficient.”

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Kate 

Weiland 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

kmwblue@umich.edu. 

Public Policy Dean Michael Barr’s likely 
appointment opposed by progressives

Biden will reportedly nominate Ford School head as comptroller of the currency

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Michael Barr, dean of the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy, is expected to be nominated as comptroller of the currency. 

KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter

GOVERNMENT

