Trump Names Two Nominees Each for Short-Staffed SEC and CFTC

President Donald Trump sent four nominations to the Senate on Thursday, two each for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the White House said. The two agencies that split most U.S. crypto oversight now have three commissioners between them, out of 10 seats.

The picks, per the White House list:

• Kristin N. Johnson (SEC), for a term ending June 5, 2029, in the seat once held by Caroline Crenshaw. Johnson is a former CFTC commissioner, CoinDesk reported.
• Steven Levine (SEC), for a term ending June 5, 2030, replacing Hester Peirce.
• Nathan Anonick (CFTC), for a term ending June 19, 2031, in the seat once held by Rostin Behnam.
• Matthew Rowland (CFTC), for the rest of a term ending April 13, 2028, replacing Summer Mersinger.

Who's there now

The SEC's own page lists just Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda. The CFTC's page lists only Chairman Michael Selig, sworn in Dec. 22, 2025. Each agency is built for five members, with no more than three from one party, under rules both sites spell out.

That makes the CFTC a one-person commission today. Every commission vote, crypto rules included, runs through a single member. More commissioners mean more votes, more dissents on the record and a sturdier base for rules that may later face court challenges.

What has to happen next

Nominees go first to committee: Senate Agriculture for the CFTC picks and Senate Banking for the SEC picks, before a full Senate vote, CoinDesk reported. The Senate is in its post-election lame-duck session.

In our opinion: an agency run by one commissioner can move fast, but its rules rest on a single signature, which is thin ground for markets that want rules to last past the next election. If confirmed, these four would take the two regulators from three members to seven. The next thing to watch is whether the Agriculture and Banking committees set hearing dates before the lame-duck session runs out.