President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has asked the White House to withdraw his nomination, a spokeswoman for the president said Wednesday.
Politico reported that James Clinger, a top congressional staffer and former deputy assistant attorney general, pulled himself out of consideration to lead the key financial regulator, citing a family issue. A White House aide confirmed that Clinger asked Trump to withdraw his nomination.
Trump announced his intention to nominate Clinger as chairman of the FDIC on June 16. The FDIC is one of the federal government oldest and most powerful financial regulators, insuring bank accounts, gauging bank stability and testing the ability of major banks to weather financial crises.
{mosads}Current FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s five-year term leading the regulator is set to expire later this year.
Clinger had been chief counsel for the House Financial Services Committee since 2007 after serving at the Justice Department from 2005 until he joined the panel. Clinger was the senior banking counsel for the Financial Services Committee from 2001 to 2005, and an assistant staff director from 1995 to 2001, according to the White House. Clinger was a litigation attorney before joining Congress.
Clinger is the latest major Trump nominee to withdraw from consideration. Jim Donovan, a Goldman Sachs partner tapped to be the deputy Treasury secretary, dropped out in May, also citing family issues.