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The Trump administration’s Department of Justice urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject a request from former NCUA Board Members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka to fast-track the appeal over their April removal from the agency.
In an Aug. 11 filing, government attorneys said Harper and Otsuka’s proposal, which called for opening briefs within a week and oral arguments in September, is “highly-expedited” and unnecessary. The DOJ argued that the case’s core issues may be “controlled, and at least substantially influenced” by upcoming rulings in Wilcox v. Trump and Harris v. Bessent, which will address the President’s removal power over members of other independent federal boards. Those cases were argued in May and are awaiting decisions.
The government also said the compressed schedule would be “particularly prejudicial,” allowing just one week to prepare the opening brief after the stay motion briefing concludes. DOJ attorneys stressed that an appellate briefing requires deeper legal analysis than district court filings, especially in a case raising “novel statutory claims” and “substantial constitutional issues.”
Harper and Otsuka, reinstated by a July 22 district court order that was later administratively stayed, have argued for expedition to restore certainty to the NCUA Board, which is operating with only one confirmed member, Chairman Kyle Hauptman. Hauptman’s term on the Board officially ended earlier this month.
While opposing the extreme speed, the DOJ said it would consider “a reasonable briefing schedule” that accommodates other court deadlines for its legal team. The Court is currently weighing the administration’s request for a stay pending appeal.
A decision on the stay motion and whether the appeal will move forward quickly or on a standard timetable is expected in the coming weeks.
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