Former Bank Bailout Watchdog Is Choice to Lead F.D.I.C.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, a lawyer who spent more than a decade rooting out fraud and other bad behavior at banks that received federal aid in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has been chosen to be the next leader of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the White House announced on Thursday.

Her pick is the first step in President Biden’s quest to quickly replace the current chair, Martin Gruenberg, the bank regulator’s longtime leader who said last month that he would resign in response to reports of vast workplace abuse and harassment at the agency. If the Senate Banking Committee acts quickly to hold a hearing and a vote on Ms. Goldsmith Romero’s candidacy, she has a chance of assuming the role before the presidential election in November.

In a statement emailed to reporters, the committee’s chairman, Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said Ms. Goldsmith Romero “would bring to the F.D.I.C. decades of financial services experience, including valuable experience.”

“She has proven herself to be a strong, independent and fair regulator who is not afraid to do what’s right,” he said.

Ms. Goldsmith Romero did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Her path to the job is far from certain. Ms. Goldsmith Romero, who is a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate twice, but her next confirmation process is already shaping up to be very different. Even before the White House announced her nomination on Thursday, Republicans appeared to be gearing up to oppose her.

Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky, a Republican on the House Financial Services Committee who will not have a say in the confirmation because he is not a member of the Senate, was the first to criticize her candidacy. In a statement emailed to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Barr called the choice “reckless” and said that Ms. Goldsmith Romero was not qualified to lead the bank regulator.