The top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee said the total chamber could vote “perhaps as early as this afternoon” on President Donald Trump's election as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In a prepared statement for a hearing Thursday on CFTC reauthorization, committee Chairman Glenn Thompson said the Senate could vote Thursday on Michael Selig's nomination to steer the agency. The possible vote would come just weeks after the Agriculture Committee advanced Selig's nomination to the total chamber along party lines.
No vote on Selig's nomination was scheduled for Thursday, based on the Senate's business calendar. The chamber is scheduled to recess on Dec. 22 for the vacations, giving lawmakers a limited window to verify the incoming CFTC chairman.
Selig, whom Trump appointed as CFTC chairman in November after his previous nominee, Brian Quintenz, withdrew, faced lawmakers in a hearing in November. The incoming chairman said it was “critically essential that [the CFTC] “Have a cop readily available” to cope with cryptocurrency regulation and enforcement.
Acting CFTC Chairwoman Caroline Pham has been the financial regulator's sole commissioner for months after every member of the leadership resigned or left attributable to the expiration of their terms. Pham can also be expected to depart once the Senate confirms a alternative leader, potentially leaving Selig as the only member.
Pham remains to be pushing crypto in her final days
Although it’s unclear when Pham will leave the CFTC, the acting chairman has continued to advance the Trump administration's agenda on digital assets by advocating for policies that favor the industry and convey executives closer together.
On Wednesday, Pham announced that the CFTC's CEO Innovation Council will include the heads of Kraken, Gemini, Bitnomial, Crypto.com, Polymarket and Kalshi.
