House conservatives will mount an effort to have the NCUA’s new Member Business Loans revoked next year, as part of a campaign to roll back regulations they consider onerous.
The House Freedom Caucus, whose members include Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for budget director, has issued a list of more than 200 rules and regulations it wants revoked.
Many of the rules come from cabinet-level agencies that Trump could order to issue new rules eliminating the ones the caucus opposes.
However, some, such as the business lending rules, were issued by independent agencies, which Trump has less control over.
In issuing the list, Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), said it includes rules that “have been devastating for working families, businesses, and taxpayers.”
Meadows said he has been in touch with the Trump transition team about his effort.
“When the American people spoke on November 8, they provided conservatives with an opportunity to restore order in our government and to remove the out-of-control bureaucratic red tape that so often stunts the growth of otherwise successful Americans,” Meadows said.
Meadows did not provide details of how the business lending rule creates more bureaucratic red tape or how they have been devastating for business and taxpayers.
The MBL rules already are the subject of a federal lawsuit. In September, the Independent Community Bankers of America filed suit in federal court arguing that the MBL rules allow credit unions to exceed limitations on business loans that were established by Congress.
In adopting the new rules earlier this year, the NCUA said it was moving away from prescriptive limits on credit unions such as collateral and security requirements, equity requirements and loan limits and to a principles-based regulation.
At the time, board member J. Mark McWatters raised concerns about the rule, saying he was worried that the board had not considered legal issues before adopting it.
The Freedom Caucus also wants to keep the CFPB from issuing rules governing the use of mandatory arbitration agreements in employment and financial services contracts. However, unlike the MBL rules, the CFPB has not yet issued final rules governing arbitration clauses.
