No Amendment Allowed in House on NCUA Share Insurance Proposal for Overseas Military Bank

House supporters will not be able to offer amendment to annual defense bill

House amendments to the FY25 defense authorization bill may not include a provision that would provide National Credit Union Administration share insurance for accounts in the overseas military bank operated by Navy Federal Credit Union.

The plan died when the House Rules Committee approved a rule that listed which amendments will be allowed when the House considers the defense bill. The share insurance amendment was not among the amendments that sponsors may offer. The full House approved that rule on Wednesday.

At issue is insurance for the contract that the Defense Department awarded to Navy Federal to operate 60 military banking facilities and 272 ATMs as part of the Defense Department’s Overseas Military Banking Program. Customers are not members of Navy Federal, but are customers of a “community bank,” the term used by the Pentagon. Following the awarding of the contract to Navy Federal, the NCUA said it legally could not provide insurance to accounts in the overseas bank. Thus, Navy Federal arranged for private account insurance.

Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas; Gerald Connolly, D-Va.; and Young Kim, R-Calif., said they wanted to offer an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would extend federal insurance to cover the Navy Federal military bank accounts.

However, the Defense Credit Union Council and the Cornerstone Credit Union League expressed vehement opposition to the amendment. The Cornerstone League represents about 600 credit unions in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Jim Nussle, president/CEO of America’s Credit Unions, said late last week that the trade group had tried to forge a compromise on the issue, but failed.

On the Senate side, the Senate Armed Services Committee began its markup of the annual defense bill on Wednesday; much of that markup is not open to the public. It is unclear whether the bank amendment will be offered during that markup.