Comments are due Oct. 24 on the federal credit union regulator’s proposed 2026-2027 budget, which includes a 20.6% reduction from 2025 to 2026 – fueled mostly by a 23% cut in staffing levels.
The National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) 2026 budget is proposed at $313.8 million. It’s a combined budget that includes the operating budget, capital budget, and Share Insurance Fund administrative budget.
Staffing cuts account for the greatest dollar amount of reduction from the 2025 to 2026 budgets – a combined 23.1% reduction representing $72.1 million in salary and benefit cost reductions combined. About $239.6 million is proposed for total salary and benefits costs in 2026. The agency is also cutting the staff travel budgets 13.4%, or $3.1 million, to $74.2 million. Contracted services are being cut 34.1%, or $12.4 million, to about $24 million.
In 2025, the NCUA began the year with an approved staffing level of 1,255 positions. It then embarked on its voluntary separation program to satisfy the Trump administration’s aim for reductions across the federal government. The agency anticipated cutting 250 positions by year-end; the proposed budget shows a reduction of 288 positions – to 967 – from 2025 to 2026, and no change in 2027.
Again, the agency’s proposed, combined 2026 budget of $313.8 million includes three components. They are:
- a $292.4 million operating budget, down 23.5%, or about $90 million, from 2025 (and funded by federal credit union operating fees and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund [NCUSIF] transfer rate);
- the capital budget, $18.1 million, up 146%, or $10.8 million, from 2025 (including, the agency said, $10 million for implementation of the NCUA’s 2026 reorganization plan along with investment in systems “to increase efficiency and meet other Administration priorities”); and
- Share Insurance Fund administrative budget, $3.3 million, down 41.6%, or $2.4 million, from 2025.
In 2026, the agency projects federal credit unions funding 38.2% of the operating budget through the payment of operating fees. The remaining 61.8% would be paid by the NCUSIF as insurance-related expenses.
The proposed, combined budget for 2027 is about $344.7 million, up 9.8% from 2026; that includes an operating budget increase to $321 million, also up 9.8%.
The agency release provides a link to a federal site where comments should be posted, but the link wasn’t working.
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