Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana was at his best, using his sardonic wit to destroy Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg during a hearing on a recent report detailing widespread misconduct within the agency’s workplace culture.
The hearing before the Senate Banking Committee was initially called to broadly oversee financial regulators, but the explosive revelations in an independent report by law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton took center stage.
The report described a hostile FDIC environment marred by stalking, harassment, homophobia, and other violations based on over 500 employee complaints, according to ABC News.
Nearly one-tenth of employees reported incidents of misconduct through the law firm’s tip line, indicative of a “misogynistic,” “patriarchal,” “insular,” and “outdated” workplace environment, according to the report, the Daily Caller reported.
Among the complaints cited in the report was a female employee who stated she was persistently stalked and harassed by a male coworker, even after reporting his behavior, per ABC. Another complaint involved a field office supervisor making homophobic remarks. Additionally, a female field examiner reported receiving an unsolicited and inappropriate picture showing a senior examiner’s genitalia.
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Sen. Kennedy expressed incredulity at Gruenberg’s assertion that he is the right person to lead the agency’s cleanup efforts.
“Mr Gruenberg have you ever heard the expression, ‘a fish rots from the head down?’” he asked, pointing out in his acerbic style that the leader of an organization is culpable for the behavior of his employees.
“Do I understand you, sir, that you believe you’re the person to clean up the FDIC?” Kennedy asked, to which Gruenberg answered affirmatively.
“Do you also believe that Elvis is alive?” Kennedy shot back.
“Do you also believe in bigfoot?” he asked.
WARNING: The following contains disturbing and offensive language that may offend some readers.
.@SenJohnKennedy: “You believe your the person to clean up the FDIC?”
FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg: “I do, Senator.”
Kennedy: “Do you also believe that Elvis is alive?”
Gruenberg: “Not to my knowledge.”
Kennedy: “Do you also believe in Big Foot? Have you read this report?” pic.twitter.com/ibNV1qg7gY
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 16, 2024
Kennedy pointed out that Gruenberg has been the chairman of the FDIC for 10 of the last 13 years and has been there for almost 20 years and that “this sleaze has been going on for decades.”
Kennedy then went on to grill the FDIC chair, reading out extremely disturbing and graphic complaints from employees about sexual harassment and racism displayed in the workplace, especially from supervisors.
The senator warned Gruenberg that he would be too preoccupied defending himself in court to effectively address the agency’s issues. “You’re not going to be able to clean up the FDIC because you’re going to be too busy defending yourself in court,” Kennedy stated, promising to introduce legislation extending the statute of limitations to allow every employee of the FDIC to file lawsuits over the reported abuse and discrimination.
“You’re going to be spending all your time in court,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy went on to point out that the Cleary Gottlieb report had some very critical things to say about Gruenberg himself.
“It says that even your senior leaders feel ‘disrespected, disparaged and treated unfairly’ by you,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy went on to quote the report, which stated that Gruenberg’s “long tenure and reputation for losing [his] temper and bullying people ‘presents unique challenges’” for him to change the agency.
“Did you read that part?” Kennedy asked Gruenberg.
Drawing a sardonic comparison, Kennedy declared, “You fixing this agency, Mr. Gruenberg, is like asking, it’s like asking Alec Baldwin to conduct a course in gun safety.”
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” he said.
When asked if he had ever read a worse report in all his years, Gruenberg acknowledged, “It’s a bad report, senator.”
“Yeah, it’s bad,” Kennedy replied.
Kennedy said he was embarrassed to even read some of the allegations in the report, which was pretty shocking to hear since the ones he had read would have made a sailor blush.
Do you like John Kennedy?
Pointing to some FDIC employees sitting in the first row behind Gruenberg, Kennedy asked, “Would you like to turn around and apologize to the female employees sitting behind you of the FDIC?”
“I have, senator,” Gruenberg replied.
“Would you do that now?” Kennedy pressed.
“If you ask me to, I will,” Gruenberg acquiesced.
Turning around, Gruenberg nodded toward a female employee and mumbled an apology.
Capping off his blistering rebuke with a mic drop, Kennedy bluntly said: “And now, I think you ought to resign.”
The FDIC’s workplace misconduct scandal has garnered significant attention, with reports of a rape at an FDIC-owned hotel in 2017 and allegations that the agency’s facilities were used for partying, according to police records and reports from conservative watchdog groups, the Daily Caller reported.
Earlier this month, leading House Republicans sent a scathing letter to President Joe Biden, questioning why he had not fired Gruenberg in light of the report of widespread sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination at the agency under Gruenberg’s leadership.
The letter was signed by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. It demanded the Biden administration provide all documents and communications related to its response to the allegations.
The letter referenced Biden’s previous statements emphasizing the importance of workplace civility, including a quote from early in his presidency where he said, “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot.”
“In light of the report’s findings and your early lip service to the principle of workplace civility, why have you not fired Chairman Gruenberg? The lack of accountability for Chairman Gruenberg raises concerns as to whether your Administration takes seriously the failures under Chairman Gruenberg’s leadership,” the Republican representatives wrote.
Kennedy’s characteristically humorous style of questioning not only provided a thorough rebuke of the FDIC chair’s shortcomings but also ensured that millions of people would watch the clips on social media if only to watch Kennedy talk.
For an administration that seems to be so focused on ensuring the right language is used at all times, the horrific insults and debasing language that was used, according to the Cleary Gottlieb report, and the appalling instances of harassment, discrimination, and debasement documented, should be considered not just grounds for dismissal but prosecution.
A positive outcome of this high-profile congressional hearing and the viral dissemination of Kennedy’s compelling interrogation is that it is also shining a light on the egregious double standard at play in the Biden administration.
