The two Illinois Democrats who may challenge Rep. Maxine Waters for their party’s top slot on the House Financial Services Committee in the new Congress would focus on issues that haven’t been traditionally front and center for that panel — namely climate change and artificial intelligence.

Younger voices within the Democratic Caucus have called for less deference to seniority on committees, especially when it comes to game-changing, generational policy issues like climate and AI.

But that’s not to say that Reps. Sean Casten, 54, or Bill Foster, 71 – the former’s hat is officially in the ring while the latter is still mulling it over — would have an easy time knocking off the 88-year-old Waters.

The veteran California Democrat, now in her 18th term, is the first Black lawmaker and the first woman to lead Financial Services. She enjoys strong support from the influential Congressional Black Caucus, and from committee Democrats up and down the dais — from senior members like Reps. Brad Sherman, a fellow Californian, and Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri, to younger committee voices like Ritchie Torres of New York.

“At a moment when President Trump and his Administration are gutting housing programs, dismantling consumer protections, eroding the independence of our financial regulators, and engaging in widespread conflicts of interest, no Member is more experienced, more effective, or more prepared to lead our fight than Congresswoman Waters,” most of the committee’s Democrats wrote in a draft letter to colleagues dated Oct. 21.

If she wins another term as top Democrat, Waters has expressed interest in building on the bipartisan housing law enacted over the summer by substantially increasing federal spending on housing. She has been a vociferous defender of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and would likely advance legislation to bolster community development financial institutions.

Waters enjoys strong institutional support and will be difficult to beat, said James Maloney, a longtime financial services industry consultant who co-founded Tiger Hill Partners.

“It’s a tough road” for Waters challengers, said Maloney, who worked on Democratic congressional campaigns earlier in his career. “She has a strong record on accountability, consumer protection and housing matters.”

And while not traditionally a prolific fundraiser, typically lagging well behind her colleagues as a dues-paying member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, she’s done her fair share of fundraising for members of her party’s Frontline and “Red to Blue” programs.

According to an internal DCCC accounting in August, Waters had rounded up $642,000 on behalf of those vulnerable incumbents and candidates seeking to flip GOP seats, outperforming Foster and Casten at least at that point in the cycle.

Casten was alone among the three in exceeding his fundraising target on behalf of the DCCC, however, bringing in more than $750,000 and directing almost $194,000 to Frontline and Red-to-Blue candidates.

Foster and Casten have each outraised Waters overall through their personal accounts, bringing in about $2.5 million across their campaign committee and leadership PACs this cycle. That compares to a little more than $1 million for Waters through the most recent quarter ended Sept. 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

And each have contributed $380,000 directly to the DCCC, outpacing their required member dues. Waters had been lagging substantially behind her colleagues until earlier this month when she hit $350,000, Politico reported, though that’s still short of her goal as a senior committee Democrat.

Waters’ largest contributors, according to a tally from OpenSecrets.org, include employees with BlackRock, the massive $15 trillion-plus asset manager; America’s Credit Unions; the insurance agents group; insurer Aflac; and two housing groups, the National Multifamily Housing Council, which represents rental unit owners and developers, and the National Association of Home Builders.

Clean-energy entrepreneur

Casten in particular stepped up his contributions to Democratic candidates in the most recent quarter, distributing $140,000 from his personal campaign account to nearly 100 individual campaigns. His largesse went to vulnerable members and safe seats alike — which could prove useful when Casten makes his pitch to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which votes on committee assignments.

Foster leads the three in cash remaining on hand in their campaign accounts, with $2.6 million, so there’s still more for him to dole out in the final weeks before Election Day. Casten has about $1.2 million left, and Waters has nearly $332,000, according to FEC filings.

Being far down the seniority list on Financial Services, Casten would represent a truly generational shift at the panel’s helm — or as ranking member, if Republicans defy midterm history and President Donald Trump’s dismal approval ratings and hang onto the majority in November.

The founder of a clean-energy startup firm, it’s no secret where the fourth-term Casten has been focused, including as a vice chair of the House’s Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition. Casten would focus on the impact of climate change on the financial services sector if given the opportunity, a source familiar with his thinking said.

Casten’s inclination toward climate policy has emerged in a couple Financial Services bills he’s sponsored.

One measure would require the Federal Reserve to develop and conduct financial risk analyses and stress tests related to climate change for bank holding companies and nonbank financial institutions with more than $250 billion in assets.

Another Casten bill would direct the Financial Stability Oversight Council to re-establish climate risk committees to assess risks and coordinate best practices across financial, banking, housing and insurance sectors.

Casten also has pressed the real estate industry to be more transparent about the impact of climate on housing prices. He led 15 other House Democrats in an April 30 letter to Jeremy Wacksman, CEO of Zillow Group Inc., which runs the online real-estate marketplace of the same name.

“As climate change-driven weather events become more extreme, the need to identify, disclose, and price climate risk is no longer theoretical, it is current and urgent,” Casten and colleagues wrote.

Casten hasn’t been shy about weighing in on other issues that he’d likely push if handed the gavel.

One is a bipartisan bill he introduced with Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., aimed at stopping “crypto ATM” scams where consumers are tricked into depositing funds in kiosks at gas stations, malls and elsewhere for conversion to bitcoin or other digital assets, and then transferred to the scammer’s digital wallet. Seniors have been the most frequent targets of such scams, according to the FBI.

Casten also likely would seek to haul Trump administration officials before the committee for answers on a range of topics.

He and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated exchange in a September hearing over an administration deal with Venezuela’s government to tap that country’s oil reserves, for instance, when Casten pressed for details on how much revenue was coming into Treasury coffers.

“I’m not sure you know what you’re asking,” Bessent said, getting on the wrong side of a potential future committee chair.

“Please don’t judge me and I’ll try not to judge you,” Casten replied.

Casten’s top donors include his home state’s CME Group, the big commodities and futures exchange operator, as well as the National Association of Realtors, American Institute of CPAs and Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.

Physicist with an eye on AI

Meanwhile, Foster has been the leading Democrat on Financial Services exploring issues related to artificial intelligence’s impact on the financial sector, often raising the subject in hearings and markups.

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed written with former Democratic Rep. John Delaney, Foster highlighted the advantages AI agents can bring to financial management, such as sweeping idle savings into accounts that earn more money.

He and Delaney said that AI automatically moving money would force banks to adjust their business practices.

“This will mean changing their operating models and the interest rates they charge, as well as using technology to improve efficiency in operations, underwriting and service,” Foster and Delaney wrote. Delaney, a one-time presidential candidate, founded Chevy Chase, Md.-based Forbright Bank, a midsized institution that bills itself as leading the way on “digital-first” banking.

Foster also cosponsored a bill from Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, aimed at stopping cybercrime in the financial services industry. It would establish federal grants for state identification fraud innovations, like digital drivers’ licenses and other IDs that comply with tougher security standards. The programs would be voluntary and wouldn’t require the use of digital IDs, a nod to privacy concerns.

And Foster was early in identifying the risks to financial markets from the rapid expansion of AI-driven capital expenditures and resulting lofty stock valuations of the Big Tech “hyperscalers.” Financial pundits have been increasingly warning of an AI “bubble” that could burst, with disastrous effects on U.S. household savings.

Foster led a group of panel Democrats in a letter last November to Bessent, in his capacity as chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. They urged Bessent to form a committee to assess the financial system risk due to “a rapid decline in asset valuations due to rapid decline in valuations of artificial intelligence (AI)-related assets and infrastructure.”

And Foster set himself apart from Waters and Casten on a July 21 vote on legislation that would ease community banking regulations. Foster voted in favor and Casten and Waters voted against the measure.

A physicist who worked at one of the Energy Department’s national labs and co-founded a theater lighting equipment company with his brother, Foster counts employees of major research institutions like Harvard University and California Institute of Technology as well as DOE among his top donors.

AI stalwart Anthropic officials are also on the list, according to OpenSecrets.org, as well as financial powerhouses Blackstone Group, PNC Financial Services, the National Association of Realtors and Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.

Peter Cohn contributed to this report.

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