Obama Intends to Keep FDIC's Bair at Agency:
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration intends to keep Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair in her post, Democrat officials said Wednesday.
Ms. Bair, a Republican who is one of the most influential figures in the government's response to the financial crisis, was nominated to run the FDIC by President George W. Bush in 2006. She has won praise from congressional Democrats for her aggressive push to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. But she has emerged as a controversial figure during the banking crisis, occasionally clashing with the White House, Treasury Department, and Federal Reserve over the government's response.
She has criticized the Bush administration's management of the $700 billion financial rescue package because she has said it doesn't do enough to keep people in their homes. There had been speculation that President-elect Barack Obama would ask Ms. Bair to leave and would appoint his own person.
