Why It Matters

The Congressional Research Service published an updated brief on Tuesday, July 28, laying out how the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) could be reduced to a single board member, one short of the two required for a quorum. FCA is the federal regulator responsible for the safety and soundness of the Farm Credit System (FCS) and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, known as Farmer Mac.

The three-member board has one vacancy, and both sitting members are serving in expired terms. One of them, Glen R. Smith, has a pending nomination to a post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced his nomination to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development on June 8. If the Senate confirms Smith before seating a replacement at FCA, the agency would be left with one board member and no quorum to conduct business.

The Big Picture

President Trump nominated two people to the FCA board on June 23: Carl Bednarski for the seat held by Smith, and John Grunewald II for the seat held by Jeffery S. Hall. Board members serve six-year terms that are fixed when they begin and staggered so that one term starts every two years, and they may not be reappointed after serving a full term.

A member may stay on past the end of a term until a successor is confirmed, a continuity provision that has instead left both current members years past their expiration dates. Hall's term ended Oct. 13, 2018, and Smith's ended May 21, 2022. Trump designated Hall as chairman and CEO on Jan. 20, 2025, replacing Vincent Logan, who resigned from the board on March 31, 2025, creating the vacancy. Hall's decade of service makes him the longest-serving board member in FCA history. No more than two board members may come from the same political party, and qualifications are to include some background in agricultural economics, financial reporting, finance, law, or financial regulation.

The stakes track the size of what FCA regulates. FCS is a privately owned, federally chartered cooperative established in 1916 that lends to full- and part-time farmers, farming-related businesses, rural homeowners, farmer-owned cooperatives, and certain rural utilities. It held $457 billion in loans outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2025, including $289 billion in agricultural loans, according to the USDA. FCA itself is small, with about 300 employees, and it operates outside the appropriations process.

The Bottom Line

Congress has not held an FCA oversight hearing with board members as witnesses since 2019 in the House and 2016 in the Senate, leaving the confirmation calendar as the practical lever lawmakers have over the agency. Whether the Senate moves Bednarski and Grunewald before or after Smith will determine if FCA keeps a functioning board or spends part of the year unable to act at all.

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