French Hill will chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee

The Republican steering committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has selected Rep. French Hill to chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the entirety of the U.S. financial services industry including the housing, insurance, securities and banking sectors.

The committee routinely examines issues and proposed legislation relevant to these businesses, and it conducts investigations into issues of political and constituent concern. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) often dispatches its leaders, including its director, to testify before the committee and provide additional input on investigations.

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.)

Before French can actually take the committee’s gavel, his nomination will need to be approved by the full House. But with Republicans remaining in control of the chamber through at least early 2027, he is expected to be easily confirmed.

Hill, a Republican representing the 2nd Congressional District of Arkansas, has served as vice chair of the committee since early 2023 when Republicans reclaimed narrow control of the House following the 2022 midterm elections. He has served under current committee chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who did not run for reelection this year.

“Congratulations to my longtime ally and current Committee Vice Chairman French Hill on being selected as the next Chairman of House Financial Services Committee,” McHenry said in a statement. “French’s experience in the private sector, the Treasury Department, and as Vice Chair have prepared him for this role.”

Hill has vast experience in financial services, having worked for his family’s financial firm when he was a teenager before attending Vanderbilt University, where he earned an economics degree. He went on to earn a certified corporate director designation from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He founded Delta Trust & Banking Corp. prior to entering politics.

“Congressman French Hill will provide much needed leadership in Washington to the mortgage markets in the next Congress,” Scott Norman, CEO of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA), said in a statement to HousingWire. “He possesses an unparalleled knowledge of housing, the need for a healthy residential real estate environment, and the importance of appropriate and prudent regulation.”

Norman added that Hill’s “unique background in the public and private sector” makes him “distinctively suited to become the next chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. On behalf of [TMBA], we congratulate incoming Chairman Hill on being selected to lead the Financial Services Committee, and look forward to working with him next year.”

Shortly after the results to the 2024 election were tabulated and Republicans were projected to maintain a House majority, Hill put forth plans to support and bolster U.S. community banking in a move interpreted by Banking Dive as “angling” for the committee leadership position.

In the current Congress, Hill also serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees the U.S. intelligence community including agencies like the CIA, FBI, Department of Defense.