WASHINGTON—The firing of NCUA Democratic Board Members Todd Harper and Taya Otsuka are driving a great deal of conversation on Capitol Hill, the Defense Credit Union acknowledged.
“It would be wrong to say this topic hasn't taken up a chunk of the air in the room,” said Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak.
Stverak addressed how that might steal focus away in Washington—and from DCUC—to drive other key credit union matters forward, such as protecting the movement’s tax exemption.
“Obviously we've had outreach from both Republican and Democrat offices, talking about the issue, sharing opinions etc. It does add another topic that you have to discuss in meetings,” Stverak said. “I hope it does not detract from what we are doing—working to ensure the credit union tax status remains in place, as well as NCUA’s independence—not having the agency rolled up into one regulatory agency for all financial institutions.”
Stverak said the issues involving the NCUA board will not distract the trade group from the “myriad of other issues we are working with members of Congress. It will not distract us from moving forward on both of our key issues. But, again, it's a topic that's getting discussed more—obviously. It was blowing our phones at about 4:30 in the morning Pacific Time one day last week. There's that initial wave of it being the only topic people are talking about.”
America’s Credit Union President and CEO Jim Nussle agreed the NCUA matter is taking up discussion time with lawmakers.
“(The NCUA board member firings) occurred when Congress was still in recess,” noted Nussle. “We've been monitoring that.”
Nussle added that ACU does not see the removal of Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka as illegal.
“And at this point in time I don't have any cause or reason to suggest that (the firings) represent executive overreach,” Nussle said.
ACU’s Ann Petros noted that in the Federal Credit Union Act there “is nothing that it explicitly states the president cannot remove board members before their terms end. There's no clause saying that the president may remove a board member for cause or any similar language.”
During a press call with the media, Nussle was asked if Trump’s decision to remove Harper and Otsuka eventually stands, will it set a precedent for new administrations to fire federal agency board members in the future and completely change the face of boards.
Nussle, preferring not to speculate on that situation, added that all of this unrest and discussion regarding the NCUA board creates uncertainty within credit unions.
“Credit unions, and all financial services companies, appreciate consistency and predictability,” Nussle said. “So, anything that…whipsaws (matters) back and forth can be problematic. Sometimes that will occur in a way that people will like. And sometimes it will happen in a way that people may not appreciate—meaning the kinds of regulations or the decisions that come out of agencies during a period of time like this…An independent agency for NCUA, and a full contingency of board members, has helped, historically, to alleviate that kind of back-and-forth change.”