US judge rules Trump illegally fired two Democratic members of credit union agency
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington said in his ruling, opens new tab that the administration violated removal restrictions established by the U.S. Congress when it fired NCUA board members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka in April.
The firings left only one board member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptman, to oversee operations. The NCUA supervises the nation's $2.3 trillion credit union sector.
The White House, Justice Department and lawyers for Harper and Otsuka did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump appointed Harper in 2019 during his first term, and Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021 named him the board's chairman. Harper's term was not due to expire until 2027. Otsuka was nominated by Biden and confirmed in 2023. Her term was not set to expire until 2029.
They said in their lawsuit that no U.S. president had removed a board member prior to the expiration of their term in the history of the NCUA's nearly 50-year existence.
The Trump administration in its defense asserted that the president has absolute authority to remove credit union board members at will.
The Justice Department has made similar arguments in other lawsuits challenging Trump's removal of members of independent federal agencies.
On Monday, a federal appeals court panel in Washington temporarily blocked a judge's order that would allow fired Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to return to her post while the administration appeals a judge's reinstatement decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May ruled that Trump could bar two Democratic members of federal labor boards from their posts while they challenge the legality of their dismissals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
US LNG producers soar as EU agrees to $750 billion in energy purchases
July 28 (Reuters) - Liquefied natural gas developers led gains for U.S. energy companies in premarket trading on Monday, after the European Union pledged $750 billion worth in strategic purchases as part of a sweeping trade pact. The framework trade deal, which ended months of uncertainty for industries and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic, calls for strategic purchases, covering oil, gas, and nuclear fuel, during U.S. President Donald Trump's term in office. NextDecade (NEXT.O), opens new tab, Venture Global (VG.N), opens new tab, and Cheniere Energy (LNG.N), opens new tab jumped between 5% and 7%, with the deal bolstering the prospects for American LNG exporters as they expand to meet growing demand for cleaner-burning fuels. Uranium miner Energy Fuels (UUUU.A), opens new tab rose 4% to $10.42. The U.S. became the world's biggest LNG supplier in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more exports, due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices , also rose over 1.5%. The agreement imposes a 15% U.S. import tariff on most EU goods, a softer blow than markets had feared. "Terms of the EU-U.S. trade deal were at the forefront, with the 15% tariff level better than feared (30% was mooted previously)," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum. "This should see less of a drag on industrial activity between the two." Still, Kelty noted the deal could weigh on gas prices. "The demand for the EU to buy more U.S. energy will see more U.S. LNG imports in the future," Kelty said, signalling a potential supply glut. Shares of U.S. natural gas producers Expand Energy (EXE.O), opens new tab and EQT Corp (EQT.N), opens new tab were up 1.6% and 2%, respectively, before the bell.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump praises UK on trying to reduce small boat crossings
Donald Trump suggested that the UK is 'doing a fantastic thing' in trying to reduce immigration via small boat crossings. Mr Trump said he knows 'nothing about the boats' when asked about the issue while meeting Sir Keir Starmer at his Turnberry golf resort, but said 'my hats are off to you' if the UK is trying to reduce immigration. Sir Keir and his wife Lady Victoria were greeted by the President and a chorus of bagpipes as they arrived in South Ayrshire on Monday. When Mr Trump was asked about how he would deal with small boats, Sir Keir explained that it refers to people who are crossing the Channel. Mr Trump told reporters: 'If you're stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people, … my hats are off to you. You're doing, not a good thing, you're doing a fantastic thing. 'So I know nothing about the boats, but if the boats are loaded up with bad people, and they usually are, because, you know, other countries don't send their best they send people that they don't want, and they're not stupid people, and they send the people that they don't want.' Turning to the Prime Minister, Mr Trump added: 'And I've heard that you've taken a much stronger stance on this.' Mr Trump later added: 'Europe is going… is a much different place than it was just five years ago, 10 years ago. 'They've got to get their act together. If they don't, you're not going to have Europe anymore, as you know it, and you can't do that. This is a magnificent part of the world, and you cannot ruin it.' The latest data from the Home Office indicates that 122 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday. The meeting between the leaders comes as a part of Mr Trump's five-day-long private trip to Scotland. The UK US trade deal and the situation in Gaza are among the items expected to feature in their discussions at Turnberry. Mr Trump took questions from the press as the bagpipes continued to play. Asked about tariffs on whisky, he could be heard saying: 'We'll talk about that, I didn't know whisky was a problem. I'm not a big whisky drinker but maybe I should be.' And he said of the special relationship: 'Our relationship is unparalleled.'
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Darren Walker's new book is still hopeful despite growing inequality as he leaves Ford Foundation
Darren Walker needed to be convinced of his new book's relevance. The outgoing Ford Foundation president feared that 'The Idea of America," set to publish in September just before he leaves the nonprofit, risked feeling disjointed. In more than eight dozen selected texts dating back to 2013, he reflects on everything from his path as a Black, gay child from rural Texas into the halls of premiere American philanthropies to his solutions for reversing the deepening inequality of our 'new Gilded Age." 'To be clear, not everything I said and wrote over the last 12 years is worthy of publication," Walker said. A point of great regret, he said, is that he finds American democracy weaker now than when he started. Younger generations lack access to the same 'mobility escalator' that he rode from poverty. And he described President Donald Trump 's administration's first six months as 'disorienting' for a sector he successfully pushed to adopt more ambitious and just funding practices. Despite that bleak picture, Walker embraces the characterization of his upcoming collection as patriotic. 'My own journey in America leaves me no option but to be hopeful because I have lived in a country that believed in me,' he said. Walker recently discussed his tenure and the book's call for shared values with the Associated Press inside his Ford Foundation office — where an enlarged picture of a Black child taken by Malian portrait photographer Seydou Keïta still hangs, one of many underrepresented artists' works that populated the headquarters under his leadership. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: Upon becoming Ford Foundation's president, you suggested that 'our most important job is to work ourselves out of a job' — a 2013 statement you include in the book. How would you grade your efforts? A: The past 12 years have been both exhilarating and exhausting. Exhilarating because there's never been a more exciting time to be in philanthropy. And exhausting because the political, socioeconomic dynamics of the last 12 years are very worrisome for our future. Philanthropy can play a role in helping to strengthen our democracy. But philanthropy can't save America. I would probably give myself a B or a B-. I don't think where we are as a nation after 12 years is where any country would want to be that had its eye on the future and the strength of our democracy. Q: Is there anything you would do differently? A: In 2013 and those early speeches, I identified growing inequality as a challenge to the strength of our democracy. And a part of that manifestation of growing inequality was a growing sense of disaffection — from our politics, our institutions, our economy. For the first time, a decade or so ago, we had clear evidence that working class white households were increasingly downwardly mobile economically. And the implications for that are deep and profound for our politics and our democracy. We started a program on increasing our investments in rural America, acknowledging some of the challenges, for example, of the trends around the impacts of the opioid epidemic on those communities. I underestimated the depth and the collective sense of being left behind. Even though I think I was correct in diagnosing the problem, I think the strategy to respond was not focused enough on this population. Q: Many people credit you for using Ford Foundation's endowment to increase grantmaking during the pandemic. Is that sort of creativity needed now with the new strains faced by the philanthropic sector? A: One of the disappointments I have with philanthropy is that we don't take enough risk. We don't innovate given the potential to use our capital to provide solutions. I do think that, in the coming years, foundations are going to be challenged to step up and lean in in ways that we haven't since the pandemic. The 5% payout is treated as a ceiling by a lot of foundations and, in fact, it's a floor. During these times when there's so much accumulated wealth sitting in our endowments, the public rightly is asking questions about just how much of that we are using and towards what end. Q: Where do you derive this sense of 'radical hope' at the end of your book? A: As a poor kid in rural Texas, I was given the license to dream. In fact, I was encouraged to dream and to believe that it will be possible for me to overcome the circumstances into which I was born. I've lived on both sides of the line of inequality. And I feel incredibly fortunate. But I'm also sobered by the gap between the privileged and the poor and the working-class people in America. It has widened during my lifetime and that is something I worry a lot about. But I'm hopeful because I think about my ancestors who were Black, enslaved, poor. African Americans, Black people, Black Americans have been hopeful for 400 years and have been patriots in believing in the possibility that this country would realize its aspirations for equality and justice. That has been our North Star. Q: Heather Gerken, the dean of Yale's law school, was recently named as your successor. Why is it important to have a leader with a legal background and an expertise in democracy? A: She is the perfect leader for Ford because she understands that at the center of our work must be a belief in democracy and democratic institutions and processes. She is also a bridge builder. She is a coalition builder. She's bold and courageous. I'm just thrilled about her taking the helm of the Ford Foundation. It is a signal from the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees that we are going to double down on our investment and our commitment to strengthening, protecting and promoting democracy. Q: Youtold AP last year that, when you exited this building for the last time, you'd only be looking forward. What does 'forward' mean to you now? A: I have resolved that I don't want to be a president or a CEO. I don't need to be a president of CEO. I think leaders can become nostalgic and hold onto their own history. Now there's no doubt, I know, that my obituary is going to say, 'Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation." That's the most important job I'll ever have. But hopefully I'll be able to add some more important work to that. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
