A year ago, NCUA Board members Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka were temporarily reinstated to the board of directors following their termination by President Trump in April 2025. That reinstatement was short lived, however, as the two continue to wait for the courts to rule on the legality of their removal.

The appeal by the two was put on hold for a time while the Supreme Court mulled Trump v. Slaughter, a similar case brought to the courts regarding “for-cause” removal protections, in this case of Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. In that June 29, 2026 ruling, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold Slaughter’s termination by the President, stating that the “for cause” provisions are unconstitutional.

With that decision, Harper and Otsuka could move forward with filing motions to govern proceedings related to their particular case.

Ann Petros, America’s Credit Unions’ vice president of policy engagement and credit union operations, said of the developments: “We look forward to seeing the next steps in the challenge brought by Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, and how the Slaughter and Cook decisions will be applied in their case so we have clarity on presidential removal authority of NCUA Board members.”

Harper and Otsuka have argued that the NCUA is more similar to the Federal Reserve, so the SCOTUS decision in Trump v. Cook is more applicable. A similar case, it concerns President Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the administration, allowing Cook to remain in office for the time being.

Meanwhile the Senate is expected to vote this week for the confirmation of John Crews to serve on the NCUA Board of Directors, replacing Kyle Hauptman.