ALEXANDRIA, Va.–Despite widespread fears in the credit union community that NCUA  is going to be folded into the FDIC or another larger, super-regulator by the Trump Administration, America’s Credit Unions is saying in the wake of its meetings with Treasury officials that such a move does not appear to be on the “radar.”

As The CU Daily has reported, moves made by the Trump Administration to pare back the size of the federal government, combined with the firing of two NCUA board members and a 20% workforce reduction at NCUA, have led to considerable speculation the independent regulatory agency that oversees credit unions and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund is going to be shuttered and its Alexandria, Va. headquarters building sold off as part of a larger consolidation.

That rumor has been persistent for several months, even though the closure of NCUA could not be done by the administration and would require an act of Congress. 

Assurances During Meeting

Noting that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated his support of an independent NCUA in the past, America’s Credit Unions President and CEO Jim Nussle said after meeting with Treasury on Monday that the trade group now has “the assurance of the deputy secretary (Michael Faulkender) that this is not their intent. They understand fully that any change would require statutory (change). Like us, sometimes they don’t understand why there are these rumors and frenzy, if you will. So, that was something we had a good conversation about. They find it surprising that the story of consolidation has (continued).

“I think what gets conflated sometimes is their desire—and they’re not the first Treasury Department or secretary for that matter to want to do so, that wants to coordinate regulatory agencies to the agenda of the president of the United States or to a particular regulatory philosophy, such as cost-benefit analysis.”

Nussle said it is his belief that consolidation of regulators is not on the administration’s “radar.”

About the NCUA Board

Nussle said the America’s Credit Unions’ representatives who met with Treasruy–including Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt, Senior VP of Government Affairs Greg Mesack, and Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel James Akin–also used the meeting to reiterate the association’s support for the independent regulator and a full complement of board members.

The board currently has just one member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptman, following the firing of Democrats Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka by the administration. Harper and Otsuka have filed suit over their dismissals.

Asked whether the discussion with Treasury touched on the potential to nominate additional individuals to fill out the board and fill the empty seats, Nussle said it did not. He added he does not believe Treasury will be doing any work behind the scenes to exert influence over who might be nominated.

Nussle also repeated America’s Credit Unions’ neutrality over whether the administration violated the law in firing the two NCUA board members, saying it will wait for the case to be settled by the courts. 

Other Issues Discussed

Nussle said the meeting also included discussion of other issues, including payments and fraud. 

Also on Capitol Hill

Regarding the tax bill that has come out of the Ways & Means Committee in the House, which was the focus of intense credit union lobbying to ensure the CU tax exemption was not revoked, Nussle, a former member of Congress who served on Ways & Means, expects the next week to be full of intense negotiating as members of Congress want to be home for Memorial Day.

“There’s  a lot of pressure on them to get this deal done and go home,” said Nussle. “We feel like we’re in a good place because of the ongoing and very relentless advocacy efforts on the part of our league partners, on the part of credit unions and leaders and members of credit unions across the country that are letting people know in Washington about the importance of credit unions and that we don’t want to tax credit unions. So, I feel like we’re in really strong shape.”