WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are demanding that the National Credit Union Administration explain the legal basis for continuing to conduct agency business with only one board member, arguing the regulator may lack the authority to take many of the actions it has approved since the dismissal of two board members.
In a June 20 letter to NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, requested documents and legal analyses they said are needed to determine whether actions taken by the agency since April 16 are lawful.
The lawmakers said President Donald Trump’s firing of former NCUA board members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka in April of 2025 left Hauptman as the agency’s sole remaining board member. They characterized the dismissals as unlawful and said they previously asked the NCUA’s Office of Inspector General to investigate the agency’s authority to continue operating under those circumstances.
Ironically, Hauptman himself is on his way out at NCUA. His term is expired and he is awaiting the confirmation of his successor, John Crews, by the Senate. Hauptman then plans to join the board of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to which he has been appointed.
IG’s Concerns Flagged
According to the letter, the inspector general’s response raised additional concerns because it indicated that when only one board member remains, that individual may carry out “essential” functions of the board, but no documentation was produced defining what qualifies as an essential function or distinguishing those duties from non-essential actions.
Warren and Waters said the issue carries broad significance because the NCUA oversees approximately $2.3 trillion in credit union assets serving more than 142 million members.
“The absence of any meaningful description of what the agency can do during periods of time when it has a one-person Board raises serious concerns and questions,” the lawmakers wrote.
Federal Law Cited
The letter argues that federal law establishes a three-member NCUA board and provides that a majority constitutes a quorum. It also cites the agency’s own regulations, which state that at least two of the three board members must agree before the board may take action and that regular meetings cannot be held without a quorum.
Harper and Otsuka have made similar claims in litigation they filed after they were fired. An appeals court has yet to rule in that case, as it has been awaiting a separate decision by the Supreme Court, which just ruled the president has authority to fire appointees at independent agencies.
While acknowledging that certain authorities have been delegated to the chairman—including emergency powers and selected personnel authorities—the lawmakers questioned whether those delegations justify broader unilateral board actions.
The letter notes that documents provided by the inspector general identified 11 Board Action Memorandums approved after April 16. According to Warren and Waters, one reflected a vote cast by Harper before his dismissal, while the remaining actions appeared to have been approved solely by Hauptman. The lawmakers questioned whether any of those actions qualified as essential functions and asked for contemporaneous legal analyses supporting those determinations.
Questions Posed to NCUA
Among the information requested, Warren and Waters asked the NCUA to:
- Define what constitutes an “essential function” of the board and identify the statutory authority supporting that definition.
- Explain whether each of the 11 Board Action Memorandums qualifies as an essential function and provide legal analyses supporting those decisions.
- Identify every board action taken since April 16 that relied on delegated authority rather than board action.
- Produce legal analyses concerning the board’s authority to operate with only one member.
- Provide communications between the NCUA, the White House and other administration officials concerning the board’s authority following the firings.
The lawmakers requested the information by July 7, saying the documents are necessary to determine whether the agency has acted within its legal authority while operating without a quorum.
