Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg announced Tuesday that he plans to step down from his post in January 2025.
Gruenberg’s resignation is effective Jan. 19, just one day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The incoming Republican administration will appoint the new FDIC chairperson.
“It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve at the FDIC,” Gruenberg said. “I have especially valued the privilege of working with the dedicated public servants who carry out the critically important mission of this agency.”
Republican Vice Chairman Travis Hill will assume Gruenberg’s role and serve as the board’s acting chairman.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, called the announcement “long overdue” in a statement responding to the news.
“I’ve called on Martin Gruenberg to resign from the agency for almost a year – yet he’s continued to play politics at the expense of the FDIC’s employees,” Scott said Tuesday. “This announcement is long overdue, but Chairman Gruenberg’s decision to remain in office until the last minute demonstrates his failure to accept accountability for his actions.
“I look forward to new leadership at the FDIC who will support the agency’s employees, hold bad actors accountable, and restore a respectable office culture,” Scott continued.
Gruenberg originally said in May that he planned to step down from the top banking position after a replacement was named.
He was beset with controversy at the time after an investigative report faulted the FDIC for fostering a workplace culture rife with employee accusations of sexual harassment and additionally criticized Gruenberg for a “reputation for bullying and for having an explosive temper.”
As chairman of the Senate banking committee, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) responded to the report by calling on Gruenberg to step aside. After Gruenberg responded to the pressure by making the announcement in May, Republicans continued to criticize him for not immediately resigning.
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and other Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee called for Gruenberg’s immediate removal in a resolution introduced last week.
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Huizenga said Gruenberg’s resignation came “too late.”
“The damage has been done,” he said in a post to X.