Is Gov't Itching To Give Citi Chief The Boot?

When circumstances take a turn for the worse someone usually ends up being the lightning rod. This time it may be Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.

Late word suggests the FDIC is pushing Citigroup to purge its top management including Chief Executive Vikram Pandit.

According to published reports, FDIC boss Sheila Blair is growing frustrated by the pace of Citi's restructuring to clean up its messy financial trail.

"People inside Citigroup tell me Bair hates Pandit," reveals CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino on Fast Money. "Bair stopped the deal between Citigroup and Wachovia back in January and since then there’s been no love lost."

However, getting Pandit out might be easier said than done. The FDIC's hard-line stance is "setting up a bitter clash between regulators—some of whom disagree with the FDIC's position—and between the FDIC and Citigroup, whose officials have argued that Ms. Bair is overstepping her authority," says the Wall Street Journal.

"If Bair has the stroke to get rid of Pandit she’ll do it," speculates Gasparino. "The question is does she have the stroke?"

Remember Pandit took over the top job from the beleaguered Chuck Prince in 2007 after selling his Old Lane Fund to Citi for $800 million in July of that year.

Over the past 52-weeks Citigroup shares have plunged a whopping 83%.

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