Ahead of Committee Vote on His Nomination, Warren Calls on Acting FDIC Chairman Hill to Release Independent Reports on Workplace Culture Blocked by FDIC Leadership
Warren reiterates call after obtaining one of the Independent Monitor reports revealing FDIC leadership efforts to address workplace culture have been hampered by Trump executive orders and staff reductions
“The FDIC must provide these reports to Congress in full to ensure that lawmakers have a complete picture of the FDIC’s progress in creating a workplace that is free of harassment, discrimination, and other misconduct.”
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Travis Hill, Acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman and nominee to be Chairperson of the Board of Directors, requesting the FDIC provide the monthly Independent Transformation Monitor reports, which detail the agency’s effort to address its toxic workplace, to Congress. In 2023, the FDIC established a special committee to oversee an independent third-party review of the agency’s workplace culture. The independent review concluded with the FDIC hiring an Independent Monitor to audit its efforts to improve workplace culture and report monthly on it to the FDIC Board and employees. Acting Chairman Hill has repeatedly refused to provide these reports despite Ranking Member Warren’s repeated requests. In her letter, Senator Warren revealed that FDIC leadership had affirmatively blocked the independent monitor from providing her reports to Congress.
“Just last week, the FDIC went so far as to explicitly prohibit the Independent Transformation Monitor, Morrison Foerster partner, Carrie H. Cohen, from providing these reports to Congress,” wrote Ranking Member Warren. “The FDIC must provide these reports to Congress in full to ensure that lawmakers have a complete picture of the FDIC’s progress in creating a workplace that is free of harassment, discrimination, and other misconduct.”
The Senate Banking Committee Minority obtained one of the independent reports blocked by FDIC leadership, which exposed how the FDIC’s efforts to fix these issues is being hampered by President Trump’s executive orders and staff reductions, and highlighted the inadequate nature of the information that the FDIC provided to Congress and that Acting Chairman Hill provided in response to Warren’s questions for the record.
The Ranking Member expressed dissatisfaction with the information Acting Chairman Hill provided to Congress:“Although the information attempts to paint a picture of progress at the FDIC, your responses instead raise fresh questions regarding the agency’s implementation of its Action Plan. Newly disclosed data, for example, revealed that the OPC’s FY2025 authorized staffing level, which was determined on a bipartisan basis in December 2024, was cut by 30 percent. Your responses also revealed that the OEEO likewise saw cuts to its authorized staffing levels.” OPC and OEEO are the two offices Hill touted during his Committee hearing as critical to addressing the FDIC’s workplace culture.
The Ranking Member raised concerns about conclusions from one Independent Transformation Monitor report obtained by her office: “According to the observations of the independent entity specifically hired to audit the FDIC’s progress, the FDIC’s work has been hampered by the agency’s poor communication, President Trump’s EOs, and your staff reductions. It remains unclear what additional insights are included in the prior seven Independent Transformation Monitor Reports.”
She concluded by requesting copies of all communications from the Independent Transformation Monitor to the FDIC and its employees ahead of Hill’s committee vote.
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