Todd Harper, chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The White House has fired two Democratic board members of the National Credit Union Administration, the officials said on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump expanded efforts to influence independent regulatory agencies.
Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, who both served on the NCUA’s board, said in separate statements that they had been removed by Trump. The removals leave the agency, which supervises the nation’s $2.3 trillion credit union sector, with just one board member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptman.
“This ill-conceived and politically motivated decision to fire me before the end of my term upsets that important regulatory balance and will harm consumers,” Harper said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.
Otsuka said in a separate statement that she was informed via email on Tuesday evening that she was immediately terminated, calling it “yet another attempt to undermine the rule of law and blatantly ignore Congress and our democratic values.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the firings, saying, “President Trump is the chief executive of the executive branch and reserves the right to fire anyone he wants.”
An NCUA spokesperson declined to comment.
The removals mark Trump’s latest effort to fire officials at independent regulatory agencies. In March, he moved to remove both Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, an action the pair are currently challenging in federal court. Trump is also trying to remove Democrats from two federal labor boards, in a matter that is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Harper was actually appointed to the NCUA by Trump during his first term, in 2019. He was then named chairman of the board in 2021 by President Joe Biden, and reconfirmed to a second term in 2022, which was not due to expire until 2027.
Otsuka was nominated by Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023. Her term does not expire until 2029.
