It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like 'Crunch Time' for Congress

It is sometimes said that members of Congress can’t accomplish anything until they smell the jet fumes as the planes warm up to take them back home.

Then, and only then, do they do what they must do to leave the nation’s capital. If that’s true, then the halls of the U.S. Capitol must be smelling like Reagan National Airport.

“Frankly, it’s crunch time for the House and Senate to wrap up their work for the year,” CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan told reporters Monday morning.

Congress is scheduled to be in session for the next two weeks. President-elect Joe Biden has been announcing various appointments; credit unions are watching to see if he names a new CFPB director.

And the NCUA has a budget hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The board has one more regularly scheduled meeting before the end of the year.

Here is a guide to what must happen and what may happen during the next several weeks.

What Must Happen

Government funding. The current continuing resolution funding much of the government expires on Dec. 11. The NCUA and CFPB are not funded through the appropriations process. However, the Community Development Financial Institutions and the NCUA Community Development Revolving Loan Fund are subject to appropriations. The House and Senate must reconcile the differences between their two spending levels. The House Financial Services Appropriations bill calls for $273.5 million for the CDFI program, while the Senate included $262 million, the same amount the program received in FY20. The House bill includes $2 million for the revolving loan fund; the Senate bill does not include any money for the program. It received $1.5 million in FY20.

Defense authorization. The defense bill technically is a must-do measure, but it is pretty close to one. Congress has passed a defense bill every year for the past 60 years, but this year’s bill has an added problem. The House and Senate bills include legislative language that calls for the renaming of military installations named after soldiers involved in the Confederacy. President Trump has threatened any defense bill that includes that provision. Credit unions have two issues they care about in the NDAA. The Senate bill calls for banks to receive the same free rent benefit that credit unions receive on military installations; the House bill does not include that provision. Credit unions are pushing for retention of the House provision. In addition, credit unions are pushing for any defense deal to include anti-money laundering provisions that would require a business to disclose its actual owner when it is formed.

What May Happen

• Confirmation of Kyle Hauptman to the NCUA board. Traditionally, the Senate does not confirm nominees of a president who has been defeated for reelection. However, if Hauptman, a Republican, is confirmed, Republicans would continue to control the majority on the NCUA even after Biden takes office. If Hauptman is not confirmed, Biden would get to nominate someone, who presumably would be a Democrat. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ky.) has filed a cloture motion that would allow Hauptman’s nomination to go to the Senate floor this week.
• Adoption of an NCUA budget. The NCUA has scheduled a budget briefing for Wednesday and is scheduled to vote on the budget at its December meeting. If Hauptman is seated by then, he will be able to vote on the budget. If he is not seated, the two remaining members, Chairman Rodney Hood and Democrat Todd Harper may clash over agency priorities, as they have during budget deliberations.
• CFPB director nomination. Biden announced members of his economic team on Monday but did not name a nominee for director of the CFPB. It is widely expected that Biden will move to replace current director Kathleen Kraninger.
• Additional stimulus. Congress and the Trump Administration have been haggling on and off over a new stimulus measure and the pressure builds for another bill, as the pandemic drags on. Credit union trade groups want any new stimulus bill to include provisions to extend the Paycheck Protection Program and provide credit unions with additional capital to lend for small businesses. The trade groups are pushing for a lifting of the small business lending cap to allow them to make more loans during the pandemic. In addition, they want Congress to extend Central Liquidity Facility provisions that are set to expire at the end of the year.