United States lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee will reportedly make another attempt to confirm Caroline Crenshaw to another term at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before Democrats lose their majority control in January.
According to a Dec. 15 Punchbowl report, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown — who will leave Congress on Jan. 3 — scheduled a nomination vote for Crenshaw on Dec. 18. Lawmakers in the banking committee initially planned to vote on Dec. 11 on her nomination by US President Joe Biden.
Senator Brown said the nomination decision was delayed due to Republican senators “doing the bidding of corporate special interests,” possibly referring in part to the cryptocurrency industry. At least one dark money group with ties to crypto, the Cedar Innovation Foundation, has petitioned US lawmakers to oppose Crenshaw’s nomination.
Crenshaw, a Democrat who has served as an SEC commissioner since 2020, was picked for a second term by President Biden in June, but lawmakers in the Senate have yet to consider her nomination before the chamber changes from Democratic to Republican control in January.
Interest groups opposing her confirmation have claimed Crenshaw was “more anti-crypto” than SEC Chair Gary Gensler, in part due to the commissioner voting against approval of the spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund in January.
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The window is closing for senators to confirm Crenshaw, who could potentially be the only Democratic SEC member after the departures of Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga and Chair Gensler in January.
Interest groups supporting Crenshaw’s nomination have suggested that Donald Trump might ignore his responsibility to nominate any additional commissioners to the SEC, leaving the agency entirely in Republican hands.
Under Gensler, the SEC has taken many enforcement actions against crypto firms, alleging the companies offered and sold unregistered securities in the form of certain tokens.
Many in the industry have criticized the SEC for this approach, with some claiming that it may have been partly responsible for Democrat Kamala Harris losing the presidential election to Trump in November.
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New members of the US Senate and House of Representatives are scheduled to be sworn into office on Jan. 3, at which time Republicans will have a majority control in both chambers. Senator Brown, who lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno, will be replaced as banking committee chair by current ranking member Tim Scott.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who won reelection against Republican challenger John Deaton, will be the top Democrat on the banking committee after Brown’s departure. The committee is responsible for spearheading a number of policies and laws that could impact the crypto and blockchain industry.
Trump said he intended to nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace Gensler as chair. Many in the crypto industry have suggested they would support Atkins, but his nomination would need a majority to pass in the Senate.
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