The leaders of the House Agriculture Committee on Friday urged President Donald Trump to fill the four open seats on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, pointing to the agency's expanding crypto mandate and a flood of pending rulemakings.
Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., and Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., wrote in a joint letter that the CFTC will be "best served by a full five-member commission," delivering "better regulations, more durable rules, and more sensitivity to the divergent views of key derivatives market stakeholders."
The letter cited CFTC Chairman Michael Selig's April 16 testimony before the committee, where he outlined an aggressive rulemaking agenda. Selig has been the agency's only commissioner since taking office in December, after a wave of departures left the panel hollowed out.
While the CFTC is intended to have a bipartisan commission of five members, there is no law requiring the commission to be full; the law only requires that no more than three members of any political party be appointed to the commission.
Thompson and Craig also tied the request to Trump's budget proposal, which seeks an increase in the CFTC's funding. The agency operates with roughly 543 full-time staff, compared with about 4,200 at the SEC.
The push comes one day after the Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 to advance the CLARITY Act, the crypto market structure bill that would grant the CFTC sweeping new authority over spot digital commodity trading. Two Democrats joined Republicans on the panel. The House passed its version of the bill last July with 294 votes.
A bipartisan slate could also harden Selig's rulemaking against legal challenge. Policies set by a sole commissioner may be more vulnerable in court, an issue that looms over the CFTC as it defends a string of state-level prediction market suits and prepares to formalize its stance on non-custodial software developers. The letter notes a full five-member commission can write "more durable rules."
Bloomberg reported in January that the White House was weighing a bipartisan slate including Optiver lobbyist Matt MacKenzie, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's general counsel Bill Rockwood, and Jump Trading's Ari Officer for the two Democratic seats, alongside Senate Agriculture Committee Republican counsel Nathan Anonick and Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Chelsea Pizzola for the Republican slots. Trump has not formally nominated anyone since Selig.
Some Democrats want the question settled in statute. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has proposed an amendment to the Senate Agriculture Committee's version of the market structure bill that would block new CFTC rules from taking effect until at least four commissioners are seated.