Vega Reconsiders CCUA Appointment; Will Stay at NCUA

The CCUA sites "unfinished business" at the NCUA as the reason Vega wants to stay with the agency. The search for a new CCUA leader resumes.

Lobby of the NCUA.

Sarah Vega has reconsidered her decision to become president of the Cooperative Credit Union Association and will remain at the NCUA as chief-of-staff to Chairman J. Mark McWatters, the association and agency confirmed Friday.

Sarah Vega

Vega’s selection as president of the association was announced at the recent CCUA annual conference. And during this month’s meeting of the NCUA board, McWatters had thanked her for her service to the agency.

The CCUA has said that it will resume its search for a new president.

Vega did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

“Vega is passionate about credit unions throughout the country and excited about the bi-partisan manner in which the NCUA Board is operating,” the CCUA said in its newsletter. “She feels that there is unfinished business at the agency and wants to continue in her role in the completion of the work that the chairman has begun.”

Vega’s role at the agency has increased in importance given a quirk in federal law. Under federal sunshine rules, any discussion between McWatters and board member Rick Metsger would constitute a quorum of the board and would have to be done in public. As a result, the two are unable to have policy discussions.

The board members have said that because of that, Vega and Michael Radway, Metsger’s senior policy advisor have become keys to agency policymaking.

The surprise decision has led to tremendous speculation in the credit union community, particularly given the unsettled state of the NCUA board.

And there even has been speculation that Vega could be in line for a future seat on the NCUA board.

McWatters’s seat expires in August 2019. Rodney Hood, a Republican and former NCUA board member, has been nominated to replace Democrat Metsger on the board. Metsger has continued to serve on the board until a replacement is confirmed.

But it remained unclear whether the Senate will consider Hood’s nomination during a lame duck session after the mid-term election.

Senate Democrats are unlikely to ease the path for Hood’s confirmation unless a Democrat is nominated and confirmed at the same time.

That could leave the three seats on the NCUA board in flux.

Before becoming McWatters’s chief of staff, Vega served as his senior policy advisor. She also was senior policy advisor to former NCUA board member Michael Fryzel and was Fryzel’s chief of staff during his tenure as chairman.