WASHINGTON--The Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the NCUA and the Administration, opposed an expedited appeals process sought by Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka in a filing this week, America’s Credit Unions reported.
The president dismissed the two from the NCUA board in April. They were reinstated to the board last month, then removed after an appeals court granted an emergency administrative stay.
Harper and Otsuka’s filing last week sought to deny the government’s request for emergency stay and an expedited appeals court ruling to quickly reinstate them, claiming the board needs a quorum to perform its statutory duties. The DOJ argued Monday that an expedited schedule is unnecessary, as upcoming court rulings on the president’s power to remove members of other federal boards are also awaiting decisions.
While the appeals court has yet to make a ruling on the emergency stay motion, the government asked the appeals court in its reply, that in the event it rules against the DOJ’s emergency stay, it extend the initial administrative stay another week so the government can appeal the stay decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, ACU noted.
America’s Credit Unions noted that it supports a full, bipartisan, three-member NCUA board to lead the independent agency.