The House Agriculture Committee urged President Donald Trump to quickly fill four vacant seats at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), warning that the agency cannot manage its growing responsibilities with only one commissioner in office.
In a joint letter sent Friday, Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson and Ranking Member Angie Craig called on Trump to restore the CFTC’s full five-member bipartisan panel. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has been the agency’s only commissioner since December after several officials stepped down.
“The public, the markets, and the agency itself will be best served by a full five-member commission,” the lawmakers wrote, arguing that a complete panel would help produce stronger and more balanced regulations.
The push comes as Congress moves forward with the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill that would give the CFTC broader oversight of spot digital commodity trading. The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 on Thursday to advance the bill, while the House approved its own version last year.
Lawmakers warned that the proposed legislation would significantly increase the agency’s workload and require extensive rulemaking. The CFTC currently has about 543 employees, far fewer than the Securities and Exchange Commission’s roughly 4,200 staff members.
Bloomberg reported in January that the White House was considering bipartisan nominees for the commission, but Trump has yet to announce additional appointments beyond Selig.
Featured image from: Cointelegraph.com