Two former National Credit Union Administration board members have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging their terminations, calling the decision by President Trump “patently unlawful.”
Earlier this month, Trump removed Democrats Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka from the NCUA board despite both having several years left in their board terms. The two officials decried the decision at the time, saying the president’s actions eroded the independence of the agency.
In a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court for D.C., Harper and Otsuka contend the president’s actions disregard “the protections Congress established to preserve the board’s independence and threatens the integrity of a vital federal financial regulator.” They add that by law, no more than two members of the three-person board may be from the same political party.
“During the board’s nearly fifty years of existence, the President has never removed a member whose term had not yet expired,” the lawsuit states. “President Trump’s unprecedented removal of Mr. Harper and Ms. Otsuka violates Congress’s mandate and has left the board without a quorum. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to restore the board’s lawful composition and preserve the independence Congress mandated.”
