President Donald Trump has nominated four candidates to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), naming two Democrats and two Republicans as his administration faces new challenges over cryptocurrency regulation following the midterm elections.
Summary
- President Donald Trump nominated four SEC and CFTC commissioners, including two Democrats and two Republicans.
- Kristin Johnson and Steven Levine received SEC nominations, while Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland received CFTC nominations.
- Democrats will control both congressional chambers in January following their victories during November’s midterm elections.
- The CLARITY Act remains stalled after September’s Senate vote failed to secure sufficient procedural support.
- Trump’s nominees require Senate confirmation as lawmakers continue debating cryptocurrency oversight and presidential financial interests.
According to the White House’s Thursday nomination announcement, Trump selected former CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson and attorney Steven Levine for the SEC. He nominated Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland to serve as CFTC commissioners.
The nominations are Trump’s first appointments proposed for the two agencies in approximately a year. All four candidates require Senate confirmation before taking office, with Democrats preparing to control Congress in January.
President Donald Trump nominates bipartisan SEC and CFTC commissioners
Trump’s SEC nominees include Democrat Kristin N. Johnson, who served as a CFTC commissioner until 2025, and Republican Steven Levine, a former SEC official.
Johnson previously worked on regulatory matters involving cryptocurrency markets, consumer protection and financial stability. Levine served as counsel and deputy chief of staff to SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda before taking a senior legal position at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
For the CFTC, Trump selected Republican Nathan Anonick and Democrat Matthew Rowland.
Anonick currently works with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman’s staff, where he participated in negotiations involving the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
Rowland is an attorney at the CFTC who has worked with the Senate Agriculture Committee. He previously served on Johnson’s staff and participated in congressional discussions surrounding cryptocurrency legislation.
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig welcomed the appointments, describing Anonick and Rowland as “two strong bipartisan picks” whom he looked forward to working with after confirmation.
The nominations would bring additional members to agencies that have operated with several vacancies.
The SEC currently has Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, following Hester Peirce’s departure after her term expired. Selig remains the CFTC’s sole commissioner.
Trump nominations face Senate review after Democratic midterm victories
The nominations come after Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and Senate in the November 3 midterm elections.
Their victories will change congressional leadership when the new Congress begins on January 3, 2027, ending Republican control of both chambers.
However, Republicans retain their current Senate majority during the remaining weeks of the congressional session.
The Senate Banking Committee will review the SEC nominees, while the Senate Agriculture Committee will consider the CFTC candidates.
Each committee can hold confirmation hearings and vote on whether to advance the nominations before the full Senate decides on their appointments.
Trump’s decision to nominate two Democrats comes as his administration faces growing opposition from Democratic lawmakers over cryptocurrency policy and his family’s involvement in digital asset businesses.
As crypto.news previously reported, the midterm results could bring renewed congressional investigations into the administration’s financial relationships and cryptocurrency activities.
SEC and CFTC nominations follow stalled US crypto legislation
The appointments arrive as lawmakers remain divided over legislation intended to establish federal rules for cryptocurrency markets.
On September 15, the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act after a procedural vote ended with 49 senators supporting further debate and 50 opposing it.
The measure required 60 votes to proceed, leaving the proposed framework for dividing cryptocurrency oversight between the SEC and CFTC unresolved.
Democratic lawmakers had demanded stricter safeguards addressing conflicts of interest, particularly those involving President Trump and his family’s cryptocurrency businesses.
Republican supporters argued that the legislation would provide clearer operating rules for digital asset companies and strengthen regulatory oversight.
The CLARITY Act’s Senate setback has left regulators pursuing cryptocurrency policies through existing legal powers.
Meanwhile, the SEC has proposed changes covering digital asset offerings and custody, while the CFTC has continued work on cryptocurrency trading and derivatives regulation.
Those agency actions do not establish the comprehensive market framework that lawmakers attempted to introduce through the legislation.
Democrats consider changes to CLARITY Act under new Congress
Democratic control of Congress has reopened discussions about whether lawmakers could introduce another version of the cryptocurrency market structure bill.
Former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo recently suggested Democrats could revise the CLARITY Act and present their own proposal to President Trump.
In a November 11 interview, Giancarlo said he had heard that Representative Maxine Waters might retain approximately 80% of the existing legislation while introducing changes addressing Democratic priorities.
He described a possible challenge to Trump using the phrase “We dare you to veto it,” although his comments concerned a potential political strategy, not an announced legislative decision.
The possible Democratic rewrite could address custody protections, consumer safeguards and restrictions involving public officials’ cryptocurrency interests.
Separately, a November 11 examination of Democratic cryptocurrency proposals found that 78 House Democrats supported the original CLARITY Act in July 2025, despite later disagreements over its Senate provisions.
The White House has proposed SEC terms ending in June 2029 for Johnson and June 2030 for Levine. Anonick’s proposed CFTC term expires in June 2031, while Rowland’s would run through April 2028.
