Senate Banking Committee to vote next week on NCUA nominees

The Senate Banking Committee will vote next week on two nominations for the National Credit Union Administration board, a move that is expected to bring the panel back to full strength for the first time since April 2016.

Todd Harper and Rodney Hood’s nominations to the board are scheduled for a vote on Tuesday along with Mark Calabria, who was nominated to oversee the Federal Housing Finance Authority, and Bimal Patel, who has been nominated as assistant Treasury secretary of financial institutions.

The two NCUA nominees took questions from the Senate Banking Committee on Feb. 14, covering issues such as a scandal over the agency’s expense-reimbursement program, expanding access to financial services for rural consumers and a controversial proposal regarding appraisals for commercial loans.

Their confirmation hearing was generally viewed as a success by those in the industry and both nominations are expected to move forward without significant opposition. Hood has already served once as a board member and has previously been confirmed, and Harper is a longtime staffer at the agency.