By Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has brought on several staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to an email sent to regulatory staff Thursday.
The regulator, which monitors banks and backstops deposits via its insurance fund, said a “small team” of DOGE staffers is working with agency leadership, according to the email seen by Reuters. The email sent to staff says the DOGE team consists of full-time federal employees with appropriate clearances, and adds that DOGE staff have not requested nor been granted access to sensitive bank information.
A spokesperson for the FDIC declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
DOGE’s arrival at the FDIC on Thursday kicks off what could be a tumultuous time for the agency, as the Trump administration continues efforts to shrink the size of the federal government. The focus of DOGE’s initial work at the FDIC has been on reviewing agency contracts and its workforce, according to one regulatory official.
The roughly 6,000-person agency is not funded by taxpayers, but instead relies on premiums it charges banks. Internal and independent reviews have also found the agency actually struggles to maintain staffing. An agency review of the 2023 failure of Signature Bank found supervisory staff experienced “frequent vacancies and continuous turnover” prior to its collapse.
The FDIC’s inspector general warned in a 2024 report that 36% of the agency’s workforce would be eligible for retirement in 2027, higher than average rates across the government.
The U.S. deploys three federal bank regulators – the FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve. States also play a role in supervising banks.
The FDIC manages the nation’s deposit insurance fund, in which the government agrees to guarantee up to $250,000 of deposits per person, per bank. The FDIC is also responsible for taking over and resolving any failing institutions.
(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Leslie Adler and Rod Nickel)
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