WASHINGTON — The White House has announced that it will nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Goldsmith Romero would replace current FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg in the wake of a workplace behavior scandal.
Her nomination will have to pass through a narrowly split Senate with few legislative days left on the calendar. Top Republicans didn't immediately decry her nomination.
"I will review Christy Goldsmith Romero's nomination to ensure she has the qualities necessary to support employees, lead the FDIC through the changes it desperately needs, and return credibility to the independent agency," said Senate Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., in a statement.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he hopes to hold a hearing on the nomination, alongside others announced by the Biden administration under the banking committee's jurisdiction, "in the coming weeks."
"I call on the entire Banking and Housing Committee, Senate leadership, and the full Senate to move quickly to bring new leadership to the FDIC at this challenging time," he said.
Goldsmith Romero is currently a Democratic member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and previously served as the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program at the Treasury Department.
In that role, Goldsmith Romero sussed out fraud and other misconduct by banks that received money from that program. Her office brought cases and helped in federal enforcement actions against several banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Goldsmith Romero would be tasked with cleaning up the beleaguered regulator, which has come under fire after a series of stories from The Wall Street Journal detailed serious workplace misconduct issues at the agency. Gruenberg's fitness to continue as chairman was called into question after a report from Cleary Gottlieb said that his temper could make it difficult for him to lead the agency through necessary reforms.
Goldsmith Romero's nomination comes with a key advantage for the White House: She's already been confirmed by the Senate twice, the last time for the CFTC in 2022. She has
Given that her last confirmation was so recent, it's possible that her paperwork filed with the Senate is still valid, and that she could move quickly through the confirmation process.
The White House and Senate Democratic leadership are likely to want to move fast on the nomination. The Senate is up against a tight deadline with few legislative days left before the 2024 presidential election in November.
The Senate Banking Committee will have to hold a hearing, and should Goldsmith Romero's nomination pass that committee, it will need to be considered by the full Senate.
Brown previously called for the White House to nominate a new head of the FDIC after a pair of brutal hearings for Gruenberg in front of the Senate and House.
After Brown's statement urging the White House to nominate a new FDIC chair, Gruenberg said he would resign once the Senate confirmed a new leader for the agency.
Goldsmith Romero's confirmation would allow the agency to continue operating with Democratic leadership. If Gruenberg were to resign before Democrats had lined up a new chair, the FDIC's Republican vice chairman, Travis Hill, would head the agency and leave the board deadlocked.
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the pervasive culture of misbehavior and abuse outlined in a Cleary Gottlieb report. Although House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., demanded Gruenberg's attendance, he did not testify.
The Conference of State Supervisors said in a statement immediately after her nomination that Goldsmith Romero has no state supervisory experience. The group has pushed the issue of an FDIC board member needing that experience, a requirement that has historically been ignored.
"By nominating an individual to the FDIC Board who lacks state bank supervisory experience, the White House, once again, has ignored the requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act," the group said.
The CSBS said that the Senate should "fully explore her positions on critical matters affecting the dual-banking system and the importance of preserving the role of the states in our financial system."
Top Republicans continued to call for Gruenberg's immediate resignation, rather than waiting for Goldsmith Romero's confirmation.
"Another day with Martin Gruenberg at the helm of the FDIC is one too many," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. "Chair Gruenberg's successor must be prepared to hit the ground running to implement the Cleary Gottlieb recommendations and end the egregious misconduct that has come to define the agency during his tenure.
McHenry said that the Senate "must move forward with the confirmation proceedings expeditiously."
The administration also announced the nomination of another CFTC official — commissioner Kristin Johnson — to the role of assistant secretary for financial institutions at Treasury. Johnson has served as commissioner at the CFTC since March 2022.
The post was most recently held by Graham Steele, who was nominated in July 2021 and resigned from the position in January 2024.
Johnson's potential nomination
Johnson previously served as a law professor at Emory and Tulane universities. Johnson worked as an assistant general counsel at JPMorgan Chase. At the CFTC, she has worked on policies including
