From the Desk of Jason Stverak

The 119th Congress should use its remaining weeks to pass three bipartisan reforms: expand credit union lending to veterans, modernize federal loan maturity limits and make emergency liquidity access more practical for smaller institutions. Jason Stverak argues that lawmakers can deliver meaningful support for veterans, military families and the credit unions that serve them by including the measures in the defense bill or another must-pass package.

Credit unions should be free to use stadium naming rights and other sponsorships to build visibility, attract members and invest in their communities without facing criticism from competing banks, whose own stadium deals and history of federal bailout assistance highlight a double standard.

Artificial intelligence should make the credit union difference stronger. It should never make the member matter less.

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Grief should not come with a field-of-membership test.When a credit union member names someone to receive the money in an [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council President Trump’s call at the RNC midterm convention to lower costs for American families deserves support. But an affordability [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council For too long, Washington has treated the debate over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as though policymakers must choose [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Washington has never been a place free of political hardball. Industries lobby, coalitions fracture, and lawmakers use leverage to [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Congress has a choice to make. It can strengthen America’s financial preparedness before the next crisis arrives, or it [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council For years, Washington has debated digital assets while consumers, financial institutions and innovators have been left to navigate a [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council This Fourth of July, America will celebrate more than a date on the calendar. We will celebrate an idea [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Every June, Americans pause to observe Juneteenth, a holiday rooted in both celebration and reflection. It marks June 19, [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council For too long, many in the credit union movement viewed interchange as a federal issue. The debates centered around [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council As America approaches its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, Memorial Day should steady us before it inspires us. [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council For years, the fight over interchange lived almost exclusively in Washington. That’s where proposals were introduced, debated, and—more often [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Calling defense credit unions and CDFI-designated credit unions “woke” may make for a sharp sound bite, but it is [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council April is when “Purple Up” is easy: a purple shirt, a quick photo, a simple show of support. But [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council The credit union movement in America did not simply emerge from policy debates or legislative victories—it was built, brick [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Every few years, the banking lobby dusts off the same tired script and launches a new campaign attacking credit [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Next week, credit union leaders from across the country will arrive in Washington, D.C. with something powerful in hand: [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council I serve as Chief Advocacy Officer of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), representing credit unions that support service [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has wisely adopted a policy direction to “review and potentially revise” all its [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council When Washington’s budget gridlock grinds the government to a halt, the men and women in uniform shouldn’t have to [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council When Congress returns in January, lawmakers will face renewed pressure to pass the so-called Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council The credit union movement has never lacked passion. We have never lacked purpose. And when you look at the [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Senator Elizabeth Warren’s recent broadside against credit unions – calling their overdraft practices “predatory” amid Americans’ economic struggles – [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council For more than 60 years, the Defense Credit Union Council has been synonymous with military-focused credit unions. Yet today, [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council On November 5, 2025, I had the opportunity to testify before the NCUA Board about the agency’s proposed budget for [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council In a recent op-ed, two community bankers – including a past chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council From phishing emails to bogus investment schemes, fraudsters are zeroing in on consumers nationwide – and credit union members [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Few Americans realize that federal law limits credit unions from lending more than 12.25% of their total assets to [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Ken Hale’s recent op-ed, “The hidden cost of credit union-bank purchases,” warns that when a bank is sold to [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council When a financial crisis hits, Wall Street isn’t the one keeping the lights on in small towns, on military bases, [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Every day, scammers target American consumers and siphon away millions of dollars – and military families are among the [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council Every year, Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – a must-pass bill vital to national security. DCUC [...]

From the Desk of Jason Stverak Chief Advocacy Officer Defense Credit Union Council As Congress turns its attention to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I urge lawmakers to reject any attempt [...]