Sherrod Brown finally admits embattled FDIC Chair has to go

Well, maybe Sherrod Brown isn’t as tone-deaf as we thought… it looks like today, he’s decided that yes, embattled FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg does need to resign. But only as and when President Biden has a replacement teed up.

Which means Gruenberg isn’t really going until January 20, 2025, and that’s assuming either former President Trump wins the election or Biden manages to get a Senate that looks quite a bit less red than is being predicted.

From Spectrum News:

Brown’s demand for FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg’s ouster comes after an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct found a workplace culture that is “misogynistic,” “patriarchal,” “insular,” “outdated” and a “good ol’ boys” club.

Gruenberg’s performance at congressional hearings last week, including in front of Brown’s committee, was unconvincing to the progressive Ohio Democrat.

“After chairing last week’s hearing, reviewing the independent report, and receiving further outreach from FDIC employees to the Banking and Housing Committee, I am left with one conclusion: there must be fundamental changes at the FDIC,” Brown said in a statement on Monday. “That’s why I’m calling on the President to immediately nominate a new Chair who can lead the FDIC at this challenging time and for the Senate to act on that nomination without delay. “That’s why I’m calling on the President to immediately nominate a new Chair who can lead the FDIC at this challenging time and for the Senate to act on that nomination without delay.”

In his statement, Brown did not call for Gruenberg to be fired. He is in the middle of his six-year term as chairman of the FDIC and if Gruenberg were to step down, Vice Chair Travis Hill, a Republican, would lead the agency. Brown instead called on President Biden to nominate a new chair for the FDIC “without delay,” which the Senate would then confirm.

So, this is basically Brown saying “yes, the women’s rights crowd are right, but not so right that I’d let a Republican write any regulation. Better a ‘progressive’ who oversaw a culture in which sexual harassment and misconduct and discrimination was rife than a Republican who isn’t a raging a-hole.”

I guess that deserves what, one thumb up?