The rapidly approaching election could have major ramifications for the only federal office charged with identifying the insurance industry’s climate risks.
The Federal Insurance Office is responsible for overseeing insurance markets and pinpointing gaps in regulation, which is handled by states. President Joe Biden directed the office in 2021 to examine the financial threats of climate change — and Republicans have been trying to eliminate the office or weaken its authority ever since.
Experts say the reelection of former President Donald Trump could result in the Treasury Department office being neglected, weakened or shuttered.
“Even in the best-case scenario, FIO kind of becomes a husk of itself that has very few staff and is not empowered to do the work it’s supposed to do,” said Graham Steele, a former Biden Treasury official who oversaw the work of the Federal Insurance Office, using the office’s acronym.