President Trump's pick for the board of the NCUA was praised at his Senate confirmation hearing by the Republican chair of the Senate Banking Committee, and criticized for being "beholden to Trump's lackeys" by the committee's ranking Democrat.
John Crews was nominated by Trump in early May to succeed Chair Kyle Hauptman. If confirmed by the Senate, Crews would serve a term expiring Aug. 2, 2031.
Crews is now deputy assistant secretary for financial institutions policy at the Treasury Department. He was previously a policy advisor to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and also previously worked as policy director for the Senate Banking Committee.
In opening comments, committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said unnecessary regulatory burdens can raise costs and limit access to services for consumers.
"Your experience with Congress and the administration gives you a strong understanding of how policy decisions affect credit unions, their members and the communities they serve," Scott said.
Ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) used a few sentences of her opening comments to say she met with Crews earlier and raised the issue of the law requiring the NCUA's board to be composed of three members, including at least one from the Democratic and Republican parties.
In April 2025, Trump removed the NCUA's two Democratic board members, Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka. They filed a lawsuit a few days later, saying the law prevents the president from firing NCUA board members without cause. A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court is expected this month.
"Undermining the board's independence now at this moment of transition puts the members that credit unions serve at greater risk," Warren said. "And yet when we met, Mr. Crews was so beholden to Trump's lackeys that he was unwilling even to acknowledge the law or the merits of having a full, bipartisan board at the NCUA to support its work."
Crews shared the hearing with appointees Christopher Phelan as chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers and Jeffrey Ledbetter as Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Most questions went to Phelan; none to Crews during the 90-minute hearing.
In his opening remarks, Crews said his top priorities include making the NCUA "efficient, effective and risk-based in its supervision."
"The overwhelming majority of credit unions are quite small," Crews said. "They need and deserve a regulator that respects their limited resources. An efficient, risk-based approach to supervision has the added benefit of allowing NCUA to deploy its resources to where they are needed most."
He also said the NCUA must be ready for innovation through "responsible advancements" of stablecoins, AI or other technologies.
His third priority was supporting de novo chartering of credit unions.
"I understand that it is incredibly challenging to create a new credit union or bank, but de novos are a priority for the administration and for me," Crews said. "New credit unions are a sign of health within the credit union system, and they often reach new, underserved communities. We need to do more to support new market entrants."
Contact Jim DuPlessis at Jim.DuPlessis@arc-network.com.
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