The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a hearing for SEC nominees Kristin Johnson and Steven Levine on November 19.
The Trump administration has nominated four people to the SEC and CFTC, including two former congressional staffers who helped negotiate parts of the CLARITY Act.
The bipartisan slate has come at a time when Democrats are preparing to take control of Congress, leaving the nominees with a narrow window for confirmation.
CLARITY Act Negotiators Among Four SEC and CFTC Nominees
The nominations, sent to the Senate on November 12, include Kristin N. Johnson and Steven Levine for the SEC, as well as Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland for the CFTC.
Johnson, a Democrat from Michigan, has been fronted to take up the SEC seat previously held by Caroline Crenshaw, whose term expired, while Levine, from Maryland, would replace Hester Peirce, who led the agency’s Crypto Task Force until her term expired a few weeks ago.
Levine was part of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors and had earlier had a stint as SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda’s deputy chief of staff. Meanwhile, Johnson is a former CFTC commissioner and is remembered for often championing the need for rules around crypto custody and decentralized finance.
The CFTC nominees have direct experience with congressional crypto negotiations, as Anonick, a Republican like Levine, is legislative counsel to Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman and worked as a lead negotiator on the agriculture portion of the CLARITY Act.
On his part, Democrat Rowland served as a CFTC detailee under Senator Amy Klobuchar as well as ex-chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee Debbie Stabenow. He also worked on the CLARITY Act, and Michael Selig, who heads the CFTC and is currently its only commissioner, called him and Anonick “two strong bipartisan picks.”
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Journalist Eleanor Terrett noted that the four face a tight schedule, with Senate Republican leaders reportedly wanting them to clear committee by November 20 so as to be included in a year-end confirmation package during the post-election lame duck session. As such, the Banking Committee has scheduled a hearing for next Thursday for Johnson and Levine.
Crypto Rules Face a Different Political Climate
Recall that the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate in September when it failed to muster enough numbers to pass to the next stage, with Dems unanimously voting against it. And now, with the party set to take over control of both chambers of Congress and Bitcoin critic Elizabeth Warren likely to chair the Senate Banking Committee, analyst Ash Crypto feels this could delay the legislation by as many as two years.
In addition, reports recently emerged that House Democrats are looking to bring a broader market structure bill that could give the SEC more oversight while reducing the CFTC’s role. That said, Matt Hougan, who is the chief investment officer at Bitwise, believes that the age of incoming lawmakers will matter more to the long-term prospects of crypto than which party holds power.
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