Bloomberg News
This article is breaking and will periodically be updated.
WASHINGTON — Todd Harper, until recently the head of the National Credit Union Administration, said he has been fired by President Donald Trump.
“The decision of the White House to fire me before the completion of my term is wrong,” Harper said in a statement. “It violates the bipartisan statutory framework adopted by Congress to protect credit union members and their deposits. The Trump Administration’s attack also undermines the independence, balance and important work of the NCUA. If a President can fire an NCUA Board member at any time, how will we maintain public trust in our nation’s financial services regulatory system?”
Harper was originally appointed by Trump as a Democratic member of the NCUA in 2019. He was designated by President Joe Biden as the NCUA’s chairman and confirmed in that role by the Senate, where he served until Trump’s inauguration in January. Harper was confirmed to serve on the board at the NCUA until April 10, 2027, he said.
“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. “Today is a sad day for our country and the credit union system.”
Trump also fired
“Last night, President Trump informed me by email that my ‘position on the National Credit Union Administration is terminated, effective immediately,'” she said in a statement. “This is yet another attempt to undermine the rule of law and blatantly ignore Congress and our democratic values.”
That means that both Democratic board members at the NCUA are now gone, echoing a move that the Trump administration took at the Federal Trade Commission. This leaves Republican Kyle Hauptman as the group’s chairman and sole regulator.
“I am just the latest public servant the President has attempted to remove,” Otsuka said. “I intend to keep fighting for the rule of law and to protect the millions of Americans who put their hard-earned money in credit unions insured by the NCUA.”
The firings come as both seats reserved for the minority party on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board remain unfilled and as Republicans in Congress push for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be governed by a bipartisan board — a requirement that the Trump administration has not adhered to with other bipartisan commission-modeled regulators.
“President Trump is the chief executive of the executive branch and reserves the right to fire anyone he wants.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told American Banker in a statement.
As chairman, Harper took
“We thank Board Members Harper and Otsuka for their leadership in addressing issues important to credit unions serving military and veteran communities,” the Defense Credit Union Council said in a statement. “DCUC looks forward to working with the NCUA and the Administration, especially in protecting the NCUA’s independence.”
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized the Trump administration’s firings.
“President Trump just fired two Board Members at the National Credit Union Administration in his continued attack on American consumers,” she said in a statement. “This is the latest attempt by Trump to skirt the rule of law, undermine independent agencies, and illegally purge the government of those who work for the American people.”
According to America’s Credit Unions, the trade organization representing credit unions in Washington, without at least two members of the board, the NCUA can’t undergo any rulemakings, but it can still perform its supervisory and examination duties.
“America’s Credit Unions has consistently supported a strong, independent regulator for our industry. While today’s news brings a bit of uncertainty to the NCUA, credit unions can rest assured that America’s Credit Unions will continue to engage the Trump Administration and Members of Congress on the unique structure and needs of credit unions to ensure the industry can effectively serve its 142 million members and support a thriving national economy,” said the group’s president and CEO Jim Nussle in a statement.
