Senate Confirms Gruenberg, FDIC Nominees

On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Martin Gruenberg to be chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Travis Hill as vice chair, and Jonathan McKernan to the remaining seat. Gruenberg, who has served as acting chair since February,  was approved for a six-year term in a 45-39 vote with Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) joining Democratic Senators to support his confirmation.

“Since becoming Acting Chairperson in February 2022, Mr. Gruenberg has wasted no time getting to work for the American people,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Roll Call noted that before Toomey supported Gruenberg’s confirmation, he criticized Gruenberg for circumventing previous FDIC chair Jelena McWilliams to open public review of the agency’s bank merger review policies. McWilliams resigned in December 2021 after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra and acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu held a written vote to open that public review.

Toomey also supported Hill’s and McKernan’s confirmations. Hill worked at the FDIC under McWilliams from 2018 to 2022, and had worked for Senate Banking Committee Republicans from 2013 to 2018. McKernan is currently a senior counsel at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and is counsel on the Senate Banking Committee’s minority staff.

“I am confident that Mr. Hill will faithfully carry out the FDIC’s mission of maintaining stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system,” Toomey said in a statement. He also said McKernan’s “knowledge of banking and housing finance issues will equip him well to serve the FDIC Board.”