Rodney Hood has been renominated by the White House for a second term on the NCUA Board to take the place of Rick Metsger, a Democrat, whose term expired last year (but who may remain on the board until a successor is confirmed by the Senate). The White House sent the nomination to the Senate Wednesday.
Hood, a Republican, had been nominated by President Donald Trump last summer, but no action was taken by the Senate (including no confirmation hearing by the Senate Banking Committee) and his nomination was returned when the Congress ended, Jan. 3. If confirmed, Hood would serve his second tour as an NCUA Board member; he previously served on the board from 2005-09, including as vice chairman.
Also sent to the Senate: the nomination of Dino Falaschetti to be director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research for a term of six years. He would take the place of Richard B. Berner, who resigned. Falaschetti’s nomination is also a rerun from the last Congress, in which the White House submitted his name, and he was recommended for confirmation by the Banking Committee on a voice vote, but with some Democrats shouting “no.” The Senate took no additional action on the nomination.
Although the White House resubmitted the nominations for Hood and Falaschetti, it has not (so far) resubmitted the nomination of Marvin Goodfriend to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board. Goodfriend was nominated to a seat on the Fed Board in November 2017, faced the Banking Committee in January 2018 for a hearing – and was recommended for confirmation in February 2018 by a vote of 13-12. The Senate never took up Goodfriend’s nomination.
Last week, another Fed Board nominee in the last Congress – Jean Nellie Liang – told the White House that she was withdrawing her name from consideration for the seat. She was nominated in September to serve a 14-year term ending Jan. 31, 2024. However, she never received a hearing about her nomination before the Senate Banking Committee.
Other seats up for replacement among the federal financial institution regulators: two seats on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), for a vice chairman and a director. The vice chairman’s seat is now empty (after Thomas Hoenig stepped down last May at the end of his term), and the term of Director Martin Gruenberg expired last month. He remains on the board as a holdover and may continue to do so until his successor is confirmed by the Senate.
The NCUA Board also has a second opening for a board member; the seat of former Chairman Debbie Matz (a Democrat) has been empty since 2016 when she left office. Trump never made a nomination for that seat in the last Congress.