Trump Fires 2 Board Members of National Credit Union Administration
President Donald Trump fired two Democratic board members of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), leaving the board that traditionally has three members with just one member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptmann.
Those who were fired are Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, Reuters reported Wednesday (April 16), citing separate statements from the two former board members.
The report also cited White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said, per the report, “President Trump is the chief executive of the executive branch and reserves the right to fire anyone he wants.”
Harper was appointed to the NCUA by President Donald Trump in 2019 and was reconfirmed in 2022 to a term that was not due to expire until 2027, according to the report.
He said in a statement, per the report: “This ill-conceived and politically motivated decision to fire me before the end of my term upsets that important regulatory balance and will harm consumers.”
Otsuka was nominated by then-President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023 and was serving a term that was to last until 2029, per the report.
She said in a statement, per the report, that the firing is “yet another attempt to undermine the rule of law and blatantly ignore Congress and our democratic values.”
Axios, which also reported on the firings of Harper and Otsuka, said that there are currently no Democrats on three boards of three regulators that were designed to be bipartisan: the NCUA, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Trade Commission.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, released a statement Wednesday saying that the firings at the NCUA is part of a “continued attack on American consumers.”
“This is the latest attempt by Trump to skirt the rule of law, undermine independent agencies and illegally purge the government of those who work for the American people,” Warren said in her statement.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council said in December that the NCUA is one of the agencies that Congress should ensure have the examination and enforcement powers they need to oversee their regulated entities’ third-party service providers.
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