WASHINGTON— With the Department of Homeland Security shutdown now stretching into its second month, the Defense Credit Union Council said Monday the standoff has become the most urgent issue on Capitol Hill for institutions serving military families and federal workers—while also warning that the budget fight may be accelerating momentum toward a broader reconciliation package that could reopen concerns over the credit union tax exemption.
Speaking on separate Monday morning press calls, both DCUC and America’s Credit Unions said Congress remains deadlocked on DHS funding even as leaders eye a planned two-week Easter recess after Friday. DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said the trade group remains intensely focused on the shutdown because of its impact on the Coast Guard and the credit unions that serve active-duty members, veterans and their families, while ACU SVP of Advocacy Greg Mesack said Senate Majority Leader John Thune had made an offer but the White House so far appears unwilling to make concessions.
“Your guess is as good as mine as to when this issue gets settled — hopefully sooner rather than later,” Stverak said.
Mesack added that if no deal is reached, Senate leaders could threaten to cancel the recess—a potent pressure tactic on Capitol Hill.
At the same time, both groups said the legislative scramble is increasing attention on other “must-pass” vehicles that could become magnets for unrelated financial-services provisions. Stverak said DCUC is closely watching negotiations over the House and Senate housing packages, where the group wants lawmakers to use any conference or compromise process to add credit union priorities omitted from the Senate bill, including board modernization, veterans’ MBL language, CLF reform and loan maturity changes.
Mesack similarly said the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act and the Senate’s Road to Housing Act have meaningful differences but “not irreconcilable differences,” with enough time to strike a deal later this year.
Stverak noted that Rep. Maxine Waters had issued a release Monday morning urging House Democrats to seek a conference committee on the two bills.
The other major vehicle is digital-asset market-structure legislation, where both groups signaled rising concern that community bank regulatory relief could be attached without parallel credit union provisions. Stverak said DCUC has already pressed both Sen. Tim Scott’s and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s teams that if bank reforms are part of any Senate package tied to the CLARITY Act, credit union reforms must be on the table, too. Mesack said House leaders appear to be shifting energy back toward market-structure legislation, with rumors of an April committee markup and an aggressive push to move a bill before Memorial Day.
But the bigger warning from DCUC was that the DHS fight itself may be feeding something larger: reconciliation. Stverak said weekend discussions about potentially moving ICE and Border Patrol funding into a future reconciliation package suggest “the momentum” for another budget bill is building, and he said DCUC has already told House Budget Committee leaders the credit union tax exemption must remain off-limits if that process advances.
Stverak noted that House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said roughly 10 days ago that he wanted a first budget package done within 30 days, followed potentially by a reconciliation bill.
“We’ve communicated to the Budget Committee that as this process moves forward, discussion on the credit union tax status is a no-go, and to encourage them to stay away from it,” he said.
Asked Monday whether the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) still poses a threat, Stverak said it absolutely could — especially in the context of the digital asset/Clarity negotiations.
He noted that the Agriculture Committee’s role in the final bill could give senators such as Roger Marshall, Dick Durbin, and Peter Welch outsized influence in the final negotiations.
“I never put anything past the ability of Senator Durbin, with his years upon years of Senate experience and knowing the rules, to be able to have something inserted,” Stverak said.
Stverak called Durbin a “formidable opponent,” noting that few expected him to succeed with earlier interchange efforts.
“Nobody expected him to get Durbin 1.0 on a debit card,” he said.