The departure of a top White House advisor on financial issues – and who oversaw the Trump administration’s nomination process for top financial regulators now in office – spurred a comment from the chairman of the federal credit union regulator’s board Tuesday.
Monday, Andrew Olmem, deputy director of the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC), announced he was leaving by week’s end. He joined the NEC in 2017 under then-director Gary Cohn. According to reports, he had planned to leave earlier but stayed on to help with the economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a top executive at the NEC, Olmem was the overseer of the nomination process for top financial regulators tapped by President Donald Trump. That included Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell – and NCUA Board Chairman Rodney Hood.
The credit union regulator issued a statement Tuesday marking Olmem’s service. Hood said Olmem “has played a pivotal role in creating a regulatory environment that helps drive the U.S. economy forward and create jobs.”
Hood said Olmem played a key part in development of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), enacted in late March to combat coronavirus crisis. “As a result of Andrew’s tireless dedication, the CARES Act provided financial regulators with tools to offer regulatory relief, flexibility, and liquidity to the financial institutions they supervise,” Hood stated.
NCUA Chairman Hood’s Statement on Andrew Olmem’s Departure from the NEC