Several members of the Senate Banking Committee pressed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) acting director Travis Hill about the potential impact of cuts to the banking regulator’s staff on financial stability, as well as the agency’s decision to allow the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to sensitive consumer information.
The lawmakers expressed their concerns in a letter signed by Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sens. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) 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,” the senators wrote.
According to the lawmakers, DOGE’s proposed 20 percent reduction in FDIC staff across the board would exacerbate the agency’s difficulties in having sufficient staffing capacity to safeguard the integrity of deposit insurance.
“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,” the senators wrote. “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.”
In an effort to obtain more details about DOGE’s role at the FDIC, the lawmakers included a dozen questions and requested answers by May 8. The information requested included:
- “Please provide the FDIC’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 ‘Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans.’
- “Provide the names and titles of any DOGE employees that have been provided access to any of the FDIC’s buildings or information technology systems. If any such employees have been onboarded as FDIC employees, please provide names, titles, salaries, and employment classifications.
- “Please list all the data and systems to which DOGE employees have been granted access and any written approvals you or a designee provided to grant DOGE employees such access.
- “Do DOGE employees have access to confidential supervisory or investigative information? If so, please describe the scope and purpose of this access. If not, will you notify Congress if that changes?
- “Do DOGE employees have access to the systems that manage and maintain the Deposit Insurance Fund? If so, please describe the scope and purpose of this access. If not, will you notify Congress if that changes?
- “Do DOGE employees have access to any systems or data used in the resolution of failed banks or in determinations of deposit insurance coverage? If so, please describe the scope and purpose of this access. If not, will you notify Congress if that changes?
- “Did all DOGE employees complete the required onboarding processes, including background investigation and system access authorizations, prior to accessing FDIC data or systems?
- “Have DOGE employees transferred any data out of the agency? If so, what data and for what purpose.
- “Are DOGE employees subject to FDIC conflicts of interest policies and cooling off requirements?
- “What internal controls have you implemented to ensure DOGE employees do not have access to any unauthorized data or systems?
- “Please provide all emails between FDIC employees and DOGE employees regarding access to and planned scope of work at the FDIC.
- “Do you have to provide final approval to cancel any contract that DOGE recommends be canceled? Is it appropriate, or lawful, to cancel contracts based on the race, sex, or religious beliefs of the contractor or of senior executives at the contracting company?”