Rep. Waters Backs FDIC Chair After Sexual Harassment Report

The head Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee criticized a third-party investigation of sexual harassment and misconduct at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), The Hill reported.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., argued that the investigation focuses disproportionately on the agencies current Democrat leader and less on his GOP predecessors.

In a statement Thursday, the committee's ranking member acknowledged cultural deficiencies at the agency, which were highlighted in the report by law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, but defended FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, even as he faces bipartisan pressure to resign.

"The Cleary report places the focus for 'tone at the top' solely on the Democratic chair under whose leadership the agency received the most favorable ratings from its employees, while it completely ignores the activities of the two previous Republican Chairs," she said in the statement.

However, Waters said that the report was "troubling" and that it "affirms that the FDIC needs to change its policies and programs to improve its workplace culture — particularly in the area of anti-sexual harassment."

The FDIC pushed back on the notion that the report was focused unfairly on leadership. Jonathan McKernan, co-chair of the special review committee overseeing the Cleary Gottlieb investigation, said in a statement, "The report makes clear that the workplace culture issues at the FDIC are long-standing. The report does not limit its findings to the current Chair."

The Hill reported that sexual harassment and a culture of intimidation have been endemic to the FDIC for years, having been documented as far back as 2014 in a report by the agency's inspector general in 2020.

The 2020 IG report found that the agency had not implemented an acceptable sexual harassment prevention program.