WASHINGTON — John Crews, deputy assistant secretary for financial institutions policy in the Treasury department, has emerged as the leading candidate to be nominated to the NCUA board and replace the departing Kyle Hauptman, sources have told the CU Daily.
Crews was appointed to the position in mid-2025 and has a long history in Washington. Prior to joining the Treasury Department, he served as a policy advisor to Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), where he covered economic and financial services policy, and prior to that was the policy director of the Senate Banking Committee.
During the first Trump Administration, he served on the National Economic Council as a special assistant to the President for Economic Policy.
Crews, who has held numerous other positions as a staffer on the Hill going back a decade, is a graduate of Princeton University with a BA in politics.
In September, Crews and Hauptman were on the same agenda for a Hike the Hill event hosted by the League of Credit Unions, where Crews appeared as part of a “fireside chat.”
Hauptman Waiting to Exit
The NCUA board currently has one member, Chairman Kyle Hauptman, who is waiting to exit after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced he has been appointed to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
Hauptman, whose term expired in August of 2025, has said he would remain on the board until a successor could be nominated and approved by the Senate. Credit union advocates on Capitol Hill have said they do not believe Hauptman’s appointment would have been announced were a successor not in the works.
Sources told the CU Daily the fact Crews has already been vetted for his position with Treasury would speed the nomination along, if in fact he is nominated.
In the meantime, it appears the board will continue to have just one member until litigation filed by Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka—the two NCUA board members fired by President Trump in April of 2025—is ruled on by the courts.
