Warren, Colleagues Press FDIC on Dangerous Impacts of DOGE Cuts and Systems Access
“Federal deposit insurance is a fundamental safeguard that underpins the public’s confidence in the U.S. banking system. Allowing the Elon Musk-led DOGE to degrade it in a moment of broader economic turmoil is deeply concerning.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Acting Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Travis Hill pressing for answers on how Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to sensitive information and cuts at the agency might imperil its critical efforts to prevent bank failures and keep Americans’ deposits safe. Ranking Member Warren was joined on the letter by Banking Committee Senators Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Chris Van Hollen (D-Mary.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.).
“DOGE’s track record of indiscriminately dismantling critical government agencies suggests that its presence at the FDIC could cause an uptick in bank failures by slashing staff at this severely understaffed agency; allow DOGE employees and affiliates to access highly-sensitive confidential supervisory and investigative information; threaten the $137 billion Deposit Insurance Fund; and cripple the agency’s ability to administer our nation’s deposit insurance system and resolve failed banks in an orderly manner,” wrote the Senators.
The Senators laid out the longstanding challenge of staff capacity at the FDIC and how DOGE’s latest across-the-board 20% staff cut exacerbates the problem and could threaten the integrity of deposit insurance.
The Senators continued: “The Senate confirmed you as Vice Chairman of the FDIC, a position independent of the White House, and you assumed the role of Acting Chairman pursuant to the statutory line of succession written by Congress. No one nominated or confirmed DOGE employees or Elon Musk to run the FDIC, and nowhere in the statute does it permit you to cede your statutory authority to Elon Musk or representatives from the White House.”
The Senators asked questions about DOGE’s role at the agency and requested answers by May 8th.
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