WASHINGTON— Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s pick to be one of the nation’s top bank regulators, is expected to face a tough round of questioning Thursday morning from senators concerned by her research that explores fundamental changes to the financial industry.

Cornell University law professor, Dr. Michael J. Smith, will be appearing before the Senate Banking Committee. Republicans as well as at least one Democrat may discuss the possibility of the Administration choosing to become the comptroller for the currency.

Omarova is almost certain to be grilled by lawmakers about the unconventional ideas that she has advocated. magnifying the power of the Federal ReserveConsumer banking will be included, as well as sweeping checks that are up to the level of Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

Although Republicans including Pat Toomey, Ranking Member of Pennsylvania have warned for years against recommending a candidate whose academic research calls to “end bank as we know”, she also encountered skepticism by Sen. Jon Tester from Montana.

Her nomination would be canceled if she received one Democratic defect on a vote by the committee to make her a recommendation to the full Senate. Even if the Senate approved her nomination, one “nay” vote by the Democrats could end her tenure.

The Washington Testimony will begin on Thursday at 9:30 AM.

One of the most prominent bank watchdogs in the country, the comptroller oversees more than 1,200 banks with assets totaling around $14 trillion. That’s two-thirds (or all) of the U.S. banking system. Representatives of the comptroller work closely with banks to verify that they are following federal laws, providing financial services to all customers and analyzing bank management.

Omarova’s ideas have drawn strong opposition from both the GOP lobbyists and the bank industry lobbyists. These people claim that her proposals promote an exaggerated role for the government, which would be detrimental to lenders small and large.

“Dr. Omarova would relegate community banks to ‘pass through’ entities that hold their deposits on behalf of the Federal Reserve, effectively eliminating the community banking model,” American Bankers Association President Rob Nichols said in October. “We respectfully—but strenuously—disagree with those positions and believe they are out of step with the role for which she is being considered.”

Omarova answered the question about this characterization in an interview, saying that her academic work is exploratory and theoretical.

She said that she was not the caricature of herself in video chat Tuesday afternoon. “I know that difference between the job of an academic, and the freedom that academics have in terms of exploring ideas … and the job of a regulator, which is very circumscribed.”

“There is a statute mandate for this agency. There’s also a particular toolkit. Congress has established goals for the agency.” she said. My understanding of this critical distinction is the key to all these discussions.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who is Banking Chairman, says that warnings by the Republicans and industry are wrong. They unfairly portray her as anti-bank, and neglect to recognize her many years of banking law experience.

Brown opened his statement by stating that more than 70 experts in financial regulation from all political sexes, as well as many ex-bankers, had endorsed her nomination. From her childhood in the Soviet Union to her escape to start a new life here and to the last month of being attacked with dignity, Ms. Omarova shows the independence and strength she will need to be a strong, fair, impartial and tough Comptroller.

Omarova explained that her motivations for writing many academic papers stemmed from her desire to prevent American taxpayers taking too much risk with lenders, and to stop future bank bailouts similar to the ones seen in 2007-2009’s financial crisis.

Many of her critics are a result of discrimination due to where she was born and raised. As a child, she grew up in Kazakhstan during the Soviet Union.

Wade Henderson, the president of Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), wrote on Tuesday his disappointment in Omarova’s “shameful and discriminatory public attacks”.

In his letter, he stated that “if Professor Omarova was a candidate for almost any other job,” and noted that discrimination based on her nationality would have violated Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 64 as well numerous other civil right laws. letter to ABA’s Nichols and other banking-industry advocates.

Nichols insists that his grievances with Omarova’s candidacy “have nothing to do with her impressive personal background.”

Omarova stated that, if she is confirmed, she would like to work with Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in order to determine how to best protect small banks located in rural areas, such as upstate New York.

According to her, “Having a bank in your area that understands the local needs and can make a credit decision on them understanding who they are and their work is so important for local economic prosperity and job creation.”

“It is important to know where the community banks are overloaded by different requirements,” she said.

These remarks might appeal to Tester, the key Democratic holdout and moderate community bank advocate, who last month joined Republicans in raising reservations about Tester’s candidacy.

CNBC was informed by his office in October that she had made statements regarding the government’s role in the financial system, raising concerns about her impartiality. However, he said that he would be happy to speak with her about these concerns.

Tester’s office confirms that Tester and Tester have met in the past, adding that Tester looks forward to seeing her again on Thursday. Unofficially, a spokesperson for Tester declined to confirm whether they had enough time to win his support.

Even if Tester agrees to Biden’s OCC leadership choice, it is possible that she will face a slim vote in the wider Senate. The two sides split the 50-50 vote. Axios reports that both Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (West Virginia) and Sen. Kyrsten Silena (Arizona) told the White House about their concerns regarding her candidacy.

CNBC reached out to Sinema but her office didn’t respond. Manchin’s representative declined comment.