Single-Member NCUA Board Not Unprecedented: Chairman Has Authority To Act As The Board, Says Former NCUA Chairman

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman has the authority to act on behalf of the NCUA board as its single member, based upon precedent established over 20 years ago, says former NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar, who served for almost two months as the sole NCUA board member during his tenure as chairman in early 2002.

“At the end of December 2001 President George W. Bush terminated Democrat Board Member Yolanda Wheat’s service on the NCUA board with the same type of action that President Trump took yesterday to remove the two Democrat Board Members at NCUA,” explained Dollar in recounting his experience as a one-member NCUA board. “I was NCUA chairman and, interestingly, from a timing standpoint, the dismissal of Board Member Wheat coincided with the expiration of the recess appointment of the other NCUA board member at that time who was Democrat Geoff Bacino. That left me as a one-member board while serving as NCUA Chairman.”

Dennis Dollar

As CUToday.info reported, President Donald Trump has removed the two Democratic NCUA board members, Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka.

Dollar said that today’s situation at the NCUA board is somewhat similar in that two NCUA board members have left the board at the same time due to executive action.

“We did not have a crystal ball in early 2002 but we recognized that, although unprecedented at the time, this could happen again,” said Dollar, principal partner at Dollar Associates. “Therefore, I took several actions while serving as chairman of the one-person NCUA board to establish a precedent that – if this ever happened again – the agency would not be stymied in doing its job and could function with a one-member board until the three-member board was reestablished with future appointments.”

Dollar Held Formal Board Meeting

Dollar said that he held a formal NCUA board meeting while serving as the one-member board, took administrative and operational action including voting on agency matters, signed documents on behalf of the board, took personnel actions, oversaw the staff and made sure the agency fully functioned in its role as regulator of all federal credit unions and the insurer of all federally insured credit unions.

“The records are in place at NCUA from 2002 that clearly establish the precedent that the chairman can act as the board,” said Dollar. “You cannot have a federal safety and soundness agency unable to function. All delegations of authority to the various departments remained in place. Field of membership expansions were approved. Mergers were approved. Prohibition orders were issued. Guidance was issued. Exams took place. Basically, we wanted to establish a precedent for times such as these today that the Chairman can act and the agency can fully function.”

Dollar said that the only thing he did not do as the one-member board was to approve a regulation, although he says that he felt he had the authority but that there was no pending regulation that required action during that two-month period.

Approve Or Rescind A Regulation

“I feel certain that the NCUA chairman could act to approve or rescind a regulation if he or she chose to do so while serving as the one-member board,” said Dollar. “We just didn’t have anything pending that could not wait a few months until a new board was appointed and sworn in. So, I chose not to set the precedent of approving a regulation—although all indications at the time were that I had the authority to do so. I wanted to make sure that every other function of the chairman, the board and the agency could be handled by the chairman acting as the NCUA board in a one-member situation if this very situation ever happened again.

“I am certain that Chairman Hauptman and the NCUA staff are aware of this clear precedent and will find it helpful now that this one-member board scenario has occurred again here in 2025,” continued Dollar. “We specifically took action to establish the precedent over twenty years ago because, well, you never know when a one-member board will occur again.”

When asked how credit unions with issues pending before NCUA—such as exam resolutions, charter applications, field of membership expansions or mergers—should view the one-member board and its impact on their issues, Dollar said “all of the delegated authority to the NCUA staff and regional offices remain in place no matter who is on the board. None of these issues go before the board anyway. They are administrative in nature and will continue unabated regardless of the board situation.”

“The only impact could be on actual regulatory actions,” said Dollar. “Chairman Hauptman may choose to enact regulations and set a precedent there for future situations. I set the precedent for all of his other authorities during this period of time and for as long as it lasts with a one-member board. He is far from stymied. In fact, his authority as the NCUA board – even as the sole member – is very clear and has been for over twenty years.”