President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has won the backing of a key Republican senator who had earlier threatened to vote against him over concerns about the agency’s handling of workplace harassment.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he will support acting FDIC Chair Travis Hill, who is Trump’s pick to permanently lead the agency. Kennedy’s endorsement clears a major hurdle for Hill, whose nomination has broad backing from the banking industry and other Senate Republicans, and paves the way for a vote in the Senate Banking Committee.
Kennedy last month threw up a surprise roadblock when he said he wouldn’t vote for Hill until the FDIC produced a report detailing how it has addressed sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct. Kennedy said at the time he had “heard nothing” from Hill about the issue since he took over as acting chair in January.
“I am satisfied with the progress the agency is making,” Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday. “I intend to vote to confirm Mr. Travis Hill as FDIC Chairman. This is no country for creepy old men.”
Kennedy’s office released the FDIC report he requested, which outlined “long-overdue plans” to improve the agency’s workplace culture and confirmed that progress was underway.
According to the report, 26 employees “left the agency specifically due to substantiated allegations of misconduct” in the 2025 fiscal year— either because they were fired or resigned before they could be terminated. The report also detailed previously announced efforts to revamp the complaint process, bolster training and establish new offices focused on professional conduct and cracking down on harassment.
“I have instituted new leadership across the agency, and today not a single FDIC executive with substantiated allegations of misconduct remains with the agency,” Hill wrote in the report.
The issue drew scrutiny from Democrats as well. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Banking Committee’s top Democrat, criticized Hill at his confirmation hearing last month, arguing there was “no record” he took action to address the FDIC’s toxic workplace culture before it was exposed in 2023.
The revelations about widespread harassment and discrimination, which emerged during the Biden administration, engulfed former FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg’s final months in office last year. Under pressure from lawmakers, the longtime Democratic appointee agreed to step down in May 2024 once a successor was confirmed. But the Senate never voted on President Joe Biden’s nominee. Gruenberg ultimately resigned the day before Trump’s second inauguration earlier this year.
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