WASHINGTON—The firings of the two Democrats on the NCUA board is just a precursor to pending threats to the independence of the Federal Reserve, according to some analysts.

As the CU Daily has reported, in an unprecedented move the White House has fired Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka from the NCUA board, leaving only Republican Kyle Hauptman on the agency’s board, where he serves as chairman.

“The President appears to be moving closer to justifying removal of Democrats on the Federal Reserve Board,” stated investment bank TD Cowen in a note reported by Axios.

“Trump is knocking down independent financial watchdogs like dominoes and the last one in the line is the Federal Reserve,” Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at Demand Progress Education Fund, a liberal group, told Axios.

Searching for Fed Chair Replacement

Axios noted current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May 2026, was appointed by Trump and is a Republican himself. But replacing him is something “we think about … all the time,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg earlier this week.

Bessent said interviews with candidates to replace Powell will begin as soon as this fall.

As the report noted, Powell has played down the threat to the Fed’s political independence during an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago this week. 

“Generally speaking, Fed independence is very widely understood and supported in Washington — in Congress, where it really matters,” Powell told the meeting.

A Trend

TD Cown noted NCUA is just the latest regulator to be stripped of any Democrats on its board or commission.

“After today’s firings, there are no Democrats on the boards for NCUA, the FDIC and the FTC even though all three were designed to be bipartisan commissions. At the SEC, Caroline Crenshaw is the only Democrat remaining. Her term ends in December,” TD Cowen stated. 

Senator Criticizes Moves

Separately, one senator has criticized the firings. 

“President Trump just fired two Board Members at the National Credit Union Administration in his continued attack on American consumers,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said. “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.”