Rodney Hood, the current chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board, issued a brief statement Monday thanking J. Mark McWatters, who resigned Friday, for his service on the board.
“Board Member Mark McWatters’ service on the NCUA Board concluded last week. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Board Member McWatters for his service,” Hood said in the statement. “His years on the NCUA Board are a credit to his decades long career in law and policymaking. I wish Mark all the best in his future endeavors.”
McWatters, noting the impending Senate confirmation of his replacement, resigned from his board seat Friday in a letter to President Donald Trump. He said it had been his “distinct honor and privilege” to serve as a board member and chairman at the NCUA for more than six years.
That letter was sent one day after the agency board’s open meeting, during which both McWatters, a Republican, and Todd Harper, the board’s lone Democrat, aired concerns about the agency’s proposed 2021-2022 budget, each saying they would need to see some changes prior to its final approval.
The budget is slated for board action Dec. 17. Meanwhile, the president’s nomination of Republican Kyle Hauptman appears on track for a vote on confirmation in time for Hauptman, presuming his wins the Senate’s approval, to participate in the December board meeting, where he could supply the essential second vote needed to clear that budget package.
McWatters first joined the agency board in 2014 as a board member. In January 2017, Trump named him “acting” chairman and five months later designated him the agency’s 10th board chairman. However, after confirmation of Trump’s January 2019 nomination of Hood to the board, Trump designated Hood chairman.
McWatters had been serving in a holdover capacity since his term expired in August 2019. Hood’s term is set to expire in August 2023; Hauptman’s, presuming he is confirmed, would expire in August 2025.
Harper – who could be named the board’s chairman by President-elect Joe Biden – is serving a board term that expires next April. He, like other board members before, could continue to serve in holdover capacity until a successor is named.
Harper issued his own statement of thanks to McWatters, along with a look at his own priorities ahead, via Linkedin:
