Kraninger isn't the only new credit union police officer taking the regulatory reins in the coming weeks.

Republican Rodney Hood and Democrat Todd Harper are expected to fill seats on the NCUA board, marking the first time the board has had full membership since Debbie Matz left the agency in April 2016.

Inevitably, new regulators can cause some anxiety among the regulated, even if there are signs that things may not change as much as they feared.

For instance, Kraninger's next move – to propose repealing the CFPB's ability-to-repay requirements in its payday rule – demonstrated that she has the same regulatory philosophy of her predecessor, former Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, if not his style.

And Hood, as a former NCUA board member, and Harper, as a former NCUA staffer, are known quantities in the credit union community.

"The team of [Board Chairman J. Mark] McWatters, Hood and Harper will be one not of rookies but seasoned veterans," former NCUA board Chairman Michael Fryzel said.

Still, board dynamics may change with a full board of three members, according to former NCUA board member Geoff Bacino, now a partner with Bacino & Associates. "With a full complement of board members, the major change will be the ability to 'horse trade,' since there are now two potential votes to lobby rather than just one," he said.

It's difficult to fully tackle some issues when nominations are pending, Hunt said. "That's not to suggest that they're not working on [things]," she added.

Republicans will control the board, since two members of the board may be members of the president's political party. McWatters, the board chairman, is a Republican.

Fryzel said he expects a new NCUA board to continue work on McWatters' agenda, adding the issues they are likely to address include alternative capital and the agency's risk-based capital rule.

"I expect Chairman McWatters to lay out his vision for what he would like to accomplish over the next two years," he said. "Each of the board members may have a specific area they would like to address and focus on, but that will not detract from working together for the good of credit unions."

McWatters and Board Member Rick Metsger agreed on a one-year delay of the RBC rule, although House Republicans have been pushing for a two-year delay.

McWatters opposed the rule when it first came before the board, so he conceivably could push for a longer delay or a re-writing of the regulation.

The board is likely to deal with capital rules, said John McKechnie, former NCUA director of public and congressional affairs and now a senior partner with Total Spectrum.

"Capital issues could be a logical first project for the new board, given their importance and their complexity," he said. "Obviously there is much talk in the industry about changes to, or even outright repeal of RBC, but I wouldn't venture a guess about what will happen there. I will be curious to see if there will be any forward movement on supplemental capital."

Former NCUA Board Chairman Dennis Dollar agreed that capital issues are likely to be addressed, as are the board budget and the agency's Normal Operating Level.

The board has set the Normal Operating Level at 1.38%, but trade groups have argued it should be returned to 1.30%.

"The biggest issues that will carry over to the new board will be supplemental capital, where the NCUA budget goes in the next few years, and what the normal operating level of the NCUSIF will settle into being now that the taxi medallion credit union portfolios have largely been dealt with," he said.

Credit union lobbyists said they are confident that Kraninger will carry on the tone set by Mulvaney, rather than his predecessor, Richard Cordray, who had the reputation of being an aggressive regulator.

"We are going down a road that appears to be more fair and even-handed than the agency has been in the past," Hunt said.

Still, abandoning Mulvaney's proposed agency name change to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection demonstrated some independence, the lobbyists said.

"We expect the director to be her own person, as evidenced by her quick resolution of the name change issue, but to still look to build upon a lot of the groundwork laid down by Acting Director Mulvaney," Elizabeth Eurgubian, CUNA's deputy chief advocacy officer and senior counsel, said.

Fryzel said he expects Kraninger to continue a pro-business agenda, similar to one pursued by Mulvaney.

But every move Kraninger makes is likely to be carefully scrutinized by the House Financial Services Committee, now controlled by Democrats.

"Director Kraninger has walked into the eye of the hurricane at the CFPB," McKechnie said.

He said that the vehement reaction to the agency's plan to repeal the ability-to-repay provision is an indication that she is going to face stiff opposition by Democrats.

Cordray wrote a strict rule to try to rein in payday lenders, some of whom have been accused of locking borrowers into a cycle of debt. When he took over the agency, Mulvaney said he planned to revise the rule.

Kraninger is proposing to do just that by eliminating the requirement that borrowers must show they have the ability to repay a loan before they qualify.

Democrats and consumer groups immediately condemned the proposal.

"The speed and ferocity of the negative reaction she received on that rule should probably be a clue as to how much of a political football the CFPB will remain, I suspect, forever," McKechnie said. "[There is] nothing deliberative and conciliatory to be found when it comes to the CFPB, unfortunately."

Bacino said Kraninger had better get used to traveling to Capitol Hill to defend whatever she proposes.

"With Democrats now in control of the House, it can be assumed that the CFPB director will be making more trips down Pennsylvania Avenue to the House Financial Services committee hearing room," he said.