WASHINGTON–The Senate has released the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without including any provisions to amend the Federal Credit Union Act (FCUA) for share insurance coverage for deposits.
As CUToday.info has been reporting, Navy Federal Credit Union has been lobbying Congress to amend the FCU Act so that the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund might also provide deposit coverage for deposits at non-credit unions, such as The Community Bank, which Navy FCU operates on bases as part of the Overseas Military Banking Program of the Defense Department. (Despite its name, The Community Bank is not a bank, but it is also not a credit union, and the FCU Act prohibits the NCUSIF from insuring deposits at non-credit unions.)
As CUToday.info documented here https://www.cutoday.info/site/THE-feature/In-Rare-Scenario-A-Public-Divide-in-Credit-Unions, in a rare divide on Capitol Hill by credit unions, defense credit unions—many of which have facilities on the same overseas bases as The Community Bank—along with the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) have opposed any such amendment to the FCU Act, in meetings with both houses of Congress.
Earlier Opposition Expressed
The DCUC noted that in early May, DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez and Chief Advocacy Officer (CAO) Jason Stverak held multiple successful meetings with staff from the offices of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), discussing several legislative priorities including its position on the 2025 NDAA mark-up.
Also in May, DCUC sent a letter to Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) of the House Armed Services Committee, urging the Committee protect the credit union industry’s tax exemption by rejecting an amendment submitted by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) to change the FCUA to allow for non-member deposits.
DCUC’s letter emphasized that “while the amendment was well-intentioned, it could significantly harm credit unions without broad industry support.”
In June, DCUC and America’s Credit Unions (ACU) sent a joint letter to Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) of the Senate Armed Services Committee, “cautioning against the inclusion of any unrelated credit union amendments to the NDAA ahead of its consideration by the full Senate.”
‘Intense Discussion’
In a statement, DCUC said both associations referenced the “intense discussion” regarding the Department of Defense’s (DoD) OMBP and the contract award to a credit union.
“The letter underscored their position in urging Congress to maintain a ‘clean’ NDAA focused on military readiness and stability in providing financial services to our armed forces and veterans,” the Defense Council said, adding the two groups also told Congress how “premature legislative actions regarding the proposed FCUA amendments could bring potential disruptions to the DoD’s established financial service framework on military bases.”