ALEXANDRIA, Va.—NCUA Friday announced it will hold an open board meeting on Thursday, May 22, during which it will address the agency’s “path forward.”
The agency’s decision to hold the meeting supports its stance, shared in a statement the agency recently made, that one board member constitutes a quorum. Following the firing of Democratic Board Members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, Chairman Kyle Hauptman is currently the sole board member. That has sparked widespread debate among credit unions and industry analysts about the agency’s ability to hold a board meeting and take actions with one member.
In its previous statement, the agency said: “It is the NCUA’s long-held view that a single board member constitutes a quorum when there are no other board members. Chairman Hauptman and NCUA’s leadership are equipped with the required authorities to continue implementing the Administration’s priorities and fulfilling our mission of protecting the system of cooperative credit and its member-owners through effective chartering, supervision, regulation, and insurance.”
As CUToday.info also reported, former NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar asserted that the NCUA can perform its duties with a single board member, including holding open meetings—as Dollar did for two months when he was the single board member in early 2002.
NCUA’s next meeting will include a briefing on the agency’s Voluntary Separation Programs, which was a previously scheduled agenda item for the canceled April NCUA Board meeting. That agenda item, analysts have suggested, is an indication the agency plans to downsize. As CUToday.info has extensively reported, the Trump Administration has mandated that all federal agencies downsize. As CUToday.info also reported, the Department of Government Efficiency recently entered NCUA headquarters.
The other item on the May 22 agenda is a briefing on the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund’s performance in the first quarter of 2025.
“This board meeting will provide the public information on the NCUA’s Voluntary Separation Programs, the number of participants, and the agency’s path forward,” Hauptman said in a statement. “And all of us at NCUA are working together to build a more streamlined agency focused on executing our core mission of protecting the safety and soundness of the credit union system. Stakeholders can rest assured that NCUA is continuing to do the job that Congress demands of us and the American people expect.”
DCUC Responds
"We thank Chairman Hauptman for holding this meeting so all credit unions are informed about activities at the NCUA," said Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak. "We look forward to working with the NCUA on behalf of our members and will be at this meeting on their behalf. The chairman should be commended for highlighting the strong position of the NCUA and the well-run and secure share insurance fund for the industry."