Key insight: Hill has overseen a sharp deregulatory pivot at the FDIC, with priorities centered on rolling back Biden-era rules and limiting the agency’s role in liberal-aligned issues like climate change and diversity.

Supporting data: If confirmed, Hill would serve a five-year term, succeeding Martin Gruenberg; the FDIC board is now entirely Republican, giving him unusual freedom to set policy direction.

Forward look: Bank trade groups are backing Hill, who is expected to push for lighter capital rules.

Travis Hill, who has been serving as acting chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. since shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, has been nominated as the agency’s permanent chair. 

Hill, who had served as a senior policy advisor for former FDIC chair Jelena McWilliams before being nominated as vice chair of the agency under Biden, would serve a five year term if confirmed, succeeding the last permanent FDIC chair Martin Gruenberg.

In his time as Acting Chairman, Hill has made a sharp pivot away from the Biden-era’s regulatory approach, pushing sweeping deregulation and initiatives aligned with the Trump administration’s philosophy. From the jump, Hill has prioritized scaling back capital and liquidity rules, dismantling climate-related initiatives, easing the compliance burden on banks and restoring what he describes as transparency and neutrality in the agency’s oversight. 

He has positioned himself as a critic of “duplicative” prudential requirements — particularly around the Basel III endgame — and is pushing for a capital framework that avoids raising capital requirements for large banks. The Basel endgame framework is set for reproposal by early 2026, according to Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman.

Hill has repeatedly stressed that the FDIC’s role, in his view, is to focus narrowly on safety and soundness of banks. His vision reflects a return to what Republicans argue is a more modest interpretation of the agency’s statutory mandate — one that keeps the FDIC out of politically contentious arenas such as environmental policy and financial inclusion.

He has pledged to put an end to “debanking,” whereby banks drop customers for allegedly political reasons, which he argues was encouraged under the Biden administration to limit financial services for politically disfavored industries. Banks are not required by law to serve anyone but may not deny services for reasons based on an applicant’s race, age, nationality or religion. 

Hill will also be presiding over a politically homogenous FDIC board. According to FDIC rules established in 1993, not more than three of the members of the board of directors may be members of the same political party. Alongside Hill, the FDIC board is currently composed entirely of Republicans, including Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould and acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought. 

The board has two vacancies open, following Trump’s apparent decision not to nominate Democrats to fill those vacancies. That arrangement could give Hill a freer hand to enact his policies without internal pushback from opposing party board members.

Bank trade group the Consumer Bankers Association was quick to endorse Hill’s nomination. In a statement, CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson framed the pick as a win for both industry and consumers.

“Travis’s deep experience within the agency and across the financial policy ecosystem will serve the country well,” Johnson wrote in a statement. “America’s leading banks look forward to working with him to strengthen consumer confidence, support innovation, drive economic growth and access to capital, and ensure our banking system continues to be the most resilient in the world.”