WASHINGTON–In response to the lawsuit filed by fired NCUA board members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, the Department of Justice, which is representing NCUA in the case, has filed its reply, and its position will come as no surprise.

While the plaintiffs argue the firing by President Trump violates the Federal Credit Union Act, the DoJ told the court Congress has never placed any restriction on the president’s authority to remove NCUA board members at will, and that any such restrictions would be unconstitutional, as the exception cited by the plaintiffs is narrow and only meant to apply to multi-member expert agencies that do not wield substantive executive power, according to America’s Credit Unions.

What Plaintiffs are Seeking

As the CU Daily reported earlier, Harper and Otsuka were fired by the White House in mid-April, and filed their lawsuit in late April seeking to be reinstated to their positions on the board and to nullify any agency actions taken in their absence by Chairman Kyle Hauptman, who is the lone board member. 

In its response, the DoJ said Harper and Otsuka are not entitled to be reinstated.