Policies & Analysis

President Trump purported to fire two members of the board of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) without explanation. Under the Federal Credit Union Act, board members can only be fired for cause, but no cause was given. Board members have filed suit to challenge their termination. This action continues the troubling effort to interfere with independent agencies, which is a culmination of a decades-long effort to eliminate independent agencies as a check on the President arbitrarily harming Americans' safety and security, and undermining the stability of the American economy. The independence of these agencies allows for impartial decision-making on a host of important issues, including transportation safety, nuclear safety, interstate electricity transmission and telecommunications, finance, and in this case, the banking systems. NCUA is an independent federal agency that insures the bank deposits of bank users at over 4,000 federal credit unions.