Andy Barr emerges as front-runner for House Financial Services chair

• The chairman will help set the financial services agenda for President-elect Trump's second administration and handle legislation on everything from cryptocurrency to banking and the pot industry.
• Current Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is leaving Congress at the end of the year.
• Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) are also interested in the position.

Driving the news: The GOP's Steering Committee is expected to finalize its makeup Wednesday, with plans to meet after the Thanksgiving break to determine committee chairs.

• The battle for Financial Services has attracted intense interest — both on Capitol Hill and in the banking community on K Street.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has the most votes on the steering committee, with four. While he hasn't tipped his hand on Financial Services, Republican aides and lawmakers think he's essentially neutral.

• They also note Hill voted "present" in Johnson's speakership election, making it less likely that Johnson would expend political capital to give him the gavel.
• Scalise, as majority leader, has two votes. If he and Johnson are aligned, they can effectively steer the rest of the committee.

The intrigue: One factor that could hurt Barr's chances: concerns about his long-term intentions to stay in the House.

• Some of his colleagues suspect he wants to run for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's seat in Kentucky when he retires.

Zoom in: Decisions on committee chairs are never final until they are announced, but here are the candidates' elevator pitches.

Andy Barr

• Barr — a lawyer who serves as the chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee — said he thinks his legislative record and ability to work across the aisle are assets that would be beneficial to leading the panel.
• "I wouldn't be running if I didn't think that I had the experience and the vision that we need to lead the committee and make it both an asset for the conference and, more importantly, the country," he told Axios.

French Hill

• Hill — the current vice chair on the panel and chair of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion — is a former banker, Senate Banking Committee staffer and former executive secretary to the President's Economic Policy Council in 1991. He also cites his experience on the issues the committee handles.
• "​​I've spent four decades in financial services, both in the private sector and the public sector, and in my view, that provides an incredible leg up on both the policy side and the political side of the job, which means I have contacts in policy development all over Washington and all over the country, as well as I've got deep connections with people engaged in banking investments housing across the nation," he said in an interview.

Bill Huizenga

• Huizenga — a Michigan businessman with a background in real estate who currently serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and previously chaired two other Financial Services subcommittees during his tenure — says he knows how to bring lawmakers together.

• "You know, my leadership style, going back to when I was a chair in the state legislature in Michigan, to my time in Washington, is to be very collaborative. I pull people along and want them to be a part of the journey," he told Axios.

Frank Lucas

• Lucas — a veteran lawmaker who has sat on the panel for decades — is currently the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He highlights his decades of committee leadership experience.
• "I've chaired two other full committees, but I've sat through more financial service hearings in the last three decades than anyone should have to do this side of purgatory," he told Axios.