FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Max Moran, moran@therevolvingdoorproject.org
In response to the Office of Legal Counsel ruling in favor of the Democratic majority that the Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation cannot override a lawful vote by the majority of the Board, Revolving Door Project Personnel Director Max Moran issued the following statement:
“It’s not a great sign for democracy overall when the government has to formally rule that yes, three is a bigger number than one, even when the one is a Republican. It’s especially troubling that this was an open debate for much of the media. But it is a significant victory for the rule of law that former FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams doesn’t get to just nullify the lawful vote of the Board even when she lost.”
“As we wrote at the time, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra followed every word of the FDIC bylaws in initiating and carrying out his vote to update bank merger bylaws. He granted chair McWilliams plenty of opportunities to voice her dissent and try to persuade her fellow Board members, few of which she chose to act upon. When she was outvoted on the proposal, she turned to her revolving-door legal aide Nicholas Podsiadly, who wrote a nonsense memo claiming unlawful powers for the Chair. So weak was his argument that Podsiadly never made it public, despite Director Chopra publicly refuting its reasoning.”
“We’re glad to see the OLC refusing to bow to political pressure from Wall Street and the far right, and upholding the democratic principles upon which the FDIC is based. For consumers, this means that long-overdue updates to reconsider the enormous consolidation in the banking sector can go forward with full legal certainty. McWilliams might not want to question monopoly power, or have her own power questioned, but in America, democracy rules.”
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PHOTO CREDIT: “Functions and Firms” by University of Michigan’s Ford Schoolis licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.