WASHINGTON–The nomination of Kyle Hauptman for the NCUA board is headed the full Senate for a vote, but only after at least one Democrat raised his concerns about the appointment.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee said prior to the vote he was concerned about Hauptman’s qualifications, or “lack of qualifications” to be one of the top regulators of credit unions in this country.”
Brown suggested that in both Hauptman’s testimony before the committee and in his written responses to questions he did not provide much in the way of detail related to the polices he would advocate for as a member of the NCUA board. As CUToday.info reported here, Hauptman earlier outlined his three priorities as a member of the NCUA board.
“He says technology can help people left behind by our banking system,” Brown said, adding that Hauptman had not provided any examples of how that would be accomplished. “Instead of laying out specific ideas to help credit unions and their members, Mr. Hauptman praises Netflix as an example of the benefits of innovation, calling it the ultimate solution to block Blockbusters’ (video rental) late fees.”
“Big tech companies dominate the market in a way that Blockbuster could never dream of, driving smaller companies out of business and amassing huge amounts of personal data,” Brown went on to say. “If his previous work in positions are any indication, he will be another advocate for rolling back important financial safeguards,” Brown said. “Another voice is this committee too often is for the powerful and the privileged who have more than their share of influence already. We need public servants who will serve the public, especially now if confirmed.”
Well Known to Committee
Hauptman is well known to the committee, as he is currently is staff director of the Senate Banking Committee’s economic policy subcommittee, and also serves as economic policy advisor to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). He has been nominated to fill the term of NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters, whose term expired in August of 2019.
Hauptman’s nomination was moved forward by voice vote, as were the nominations of two people to join the Security and Exchange Commission. Several “no” votes on Hauptman’s nomination could be heard during the virtual session. Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) said the Hauptman nomination passed.