Ex-Credit Union CEO Takes NCUA Fight To Supreme Court In High-Stakes Constitutional Challenge
By CU Today Staff —
ARLINGTON, Va.— Former Edinburg Teachers Credit Union CEO Jeffrey Moats has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether he may challenge the constitutionality of the NCUA’s administrative enforcement system in federal district court before completing the agency’s internal adjudication process.
Moats filed his petition July 8 in Moats v. National Credit Union Administration Board, case No. 26-45, asking the justices to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that federal law barred the district court from hearing his claims.
The dispute began after the Texas Credit Union Department placed Edinburg Teachers Credit Union into conservatorship in 2021 and appointed the NCUA as conservator. The agency later accused Moats of intentionally violating the law, breaching fiduciary duties and causing the credit union losses exceeding $4 million, and sought restitution, civil monetary penalties and a lifetime prohibition from working for a federally insured financial institution, according to the NCUA’s 2023 announcement and court filings.
Moats responded with a federal lawsuit alleging that the NCUA administrative law judge was unconstitutionally protected from removal, that the agency proceeding denied him a jury trial and due process, and that the enforcement structure violated the nondelegation doctrine. The Fifth Circuit did not decide those constitutional claims, instead affirming the dismissal of his case because Section 206(k)(1) of the Federal Credit Union Act expressly prevents courts from interfering with an NCUA notice or enforcement order before the administrative process is completed.
In his Supreme Court petition, Moats argues that his structural claims are separate from the underlying misconduct allegations and that forcing him to undergo an allegedly unconstitutional proceeding creates an immediate injury that cannot be fully remedied through later appellate review. He is asking the Court to decide both whether the Federal Credit Union Act strips district courts of jurisdiction over such constitutional challenges and whether Congress has the constitutional authority to impose that restriction. The Fifth Circuit denied rehearing in March, and the Supreme Court will now determine whether to accept the case after the NCUA has an opportunity to respond.
Originally reported by CU Today.