{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/emmer-financial-services-republicans-condemn-politicized-fdic-enforcement", "Emmer, Financial Services Republicans Condemn Politicized FDIC Enforcement", "2022-08-05", "2022", "2022-08", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Tom Emmer", "E000294", "emmer.house.gov", "emmer", "https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 This week, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) led his Republican colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee on a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg condemning the agency\u2019s politicized and retaliatory examinational appeals process.\n\nEmmer said, \u201cThe FDIC knew that their choice to revert to a partisan appeals process would be met with concern from legislators and stakeholders alike. Nevertheless, they chose to abandon an independent, apolitical body without even asking for public comment.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe American people deserve answers on how and why this previously nonpartisan body was abandoned, and how the FDIC made their decision to return to cronyism.\u201d\n\nCongressman Emmer serves as lead Republican on the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. Emmer was joined on the letter by Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-09), Warren Davidson (OH-08), William Timmons (SC-04), Ted Budd (NC-13), Andy Barr (KY-06), Bill Posey (FL-08), Alex Mooney (WV-02), Roger Williams (TX-25), French Hill (AR-02), Ann Wagner (MO-02), Bill Huizenga (MI-02), John Rose (TN-06), Lance Gooden (TX-04), Bryan Steil (WI-01), Trey Hollingsworth (IN-09), Van Taylor (TX-03), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Lee Zeldin (NY-01), Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16), Frank Lucas (OK-03), and Ralph Norman (SC-05).\n\nBackground:\n\nTo ensure regulatory compliance, the FDIC conducts examinations of the financial institutions under its supervision. In 1994, Congress required the FDIC to establish an independent process to protect financial institutions from bias and retaliation by FDIC staff if the financial institution seeks to revisit an FDIC examination. Instead, the FDIC set up the Supervision Appeals Review Committee (SARC) and staffed it with political insiders. The SARC was underutilized by supervised entities for fear of retaliation from the FDIC examiners down the line.\n\nUnder the leadership of former FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams, the FDIC disbanded the politicized SARC and set up the OSA, a committee beyond the reach of the FDIC\u2019s political appointees and composed of former, non-current FDIC employees with significant exam experience. The OSA was tasked with handling the appeals process for financial institutions who have issues with an FDIC exam. McWilliams opened this process up to public input before officially establishing the OSA and it was widely supported.\n\nLate last year, however, Marty Gruenberg and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra conducted a hostile, partisan takeover of the FDIC, ousting McWilliams before the OSA could begin fulfilling its responsibility to independently and transparently review the appeals process.\n\nAs FDIC Acting Chairman, Mr. Gruenberg, just a few months after the OSA was established, eliminated the OSA and reinstated the shadowy, politicized SARC, effectively immediately. He did not open this process up to public comment beforehand.\n\nYou can read the letter in full here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:59:24Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/emmer-financial-services-republicans-condemn-politicized-fdic-enforcement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8651881255209446, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}