


Martin Gruenberg, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, said on Monday that he would resign from his post once a successor had been confirmed to replace him, according to an email to employees seen by The New York Times.
His announcement came hours after the top Democrat on bank regulation, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, called on President Biden to choose a new leader for the agency, saying he no longer had confidence that Mr. Gruenberg could heal its “toxic culture.”
“In light of recent events, I am prepared to step down from my responsibilities once a successor is confirmed,” Mr. Gruenberg wrote to employees. “Until that time, I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities as chairman of the F.D.I.C., including the transformation of the F.D.I.C.’s workplace culture.”
Mr. Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said on Monday that after a committee hearing with Mr. Gruenberg on Thursday, he no longer believed that Mr. Gruenberg could put an end to a culture of sexual harassment and discrimination at the agency, which oversees U.S. banks. He called for Mr. Biden to nominate a successor and for the Senate to quickly confirm that person, who could then take over for Mr. Gruenberg.
“There must be fundamental changes at the F.D.I.C.,” Mr. Brown said. “Those changes begin with new leadership, who must fix the agency’s toxic culture and put the women and men who work there — and their mission — first.”
An F.D.I.C. spokesman declined to comment further beyond Mr. Gruenberg’s email.
The agency’s problems were detailed in a report released this month, prepared by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb, that the F.D.I.C.’s board commissioned in response to a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal. Since then, Mr. Gruenberg has faced some calls to resign from members of both political parties who said they felt he had played too big a role in shaping the agency’s culture in recent years, including by making the agency’s staff fear communicating with him.