U.S. Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) will introduce a bill that seeks to reform the governance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The FDIC Board Governance Reform Act would remove the directors of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Comptroller of the Currency as permanent members of the FDIC board of directors. Those two seats, in turn, would be filled by presidential appointees, confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“Any threat to the independence of the FDIC is a direct threat to the agency’s ability to carry out its nonpartisan mission of maintaining stability and public confidence in our nation’s financial system,” Scott said. “This bill will prevent a repeat of recent attempts to politicize the independent and historically apolitical practice of federal bank regulation. By protecting the independent status of the FDIC, we will preserve the unbiased oversight of the banking industry.”
In addition, the bill would establish lifetime service limits for FDIC board members and implement boundaries on how long a board member may continue to serve after their Senate-confirmed term has expired.
“The recent hostile takeover at the FDIC has done lasting damage to the longstanding principle that financial regulators should operate free from partisan politics,” Toomey said. “By removing the Comptroller of the Currency and CFPB Director from the FDIC board and imposing term limits on all board members, our legislation will restore the independence and integrity of the FDIC.”
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Steve Daines (R-MT), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and John Kennedy (R-LA).