White House Sends Four SEC and CFTC Nominees to the Senate Ahead of a January Power Shift

Published November 13, 2026, 3:04 AM PKT. Based on the White House nomination notice published on November 12, 2026 (primary source), and reporting from Reuters, Bloomberg Tax and CoinDesk the same day (secondary sources). Market data from CoinGecko, November 12, 2026.

The White House sent four bipartisan nominations for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to the Senate on November 12, filling seats at the two agencies that sit at the center of crypto regulation in the United States. The nominations are the first of their kind since 2025, according to CoinDesk, and they arrive while Republicans still control the Senate, a window that closes in January after last week's midterm election losses.

The two agencies decide much of what crypto companies can and cannot do in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission sets the rules for securities, enforcement and exchange-traded funds, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees derivatives and is drafting the framework for crypto market structure. Whoever fills the four open seats will help shape both agencies' crypto posture for years.

The four names and the seats they would fill

The White House notice, published on November 12, lists two nominees for each agency, one Republican and one Democrat at each. For the Securities and Exchange Commission, Democrat Kristin N. Johnson of Michigan was nominated for a term expiring June 5, 2029, in the seat previously held by Caroline A. Crenshaw, whose term expired. Republican Steven Levine of Maryland was nominated for a term expiring June 5, 2030, in the seat previously held by Hester Maria Peirce, whose term expired.

For the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Republican Nathan Anonick of Virginia was nominated for a term expiring June 19, 2031, in the seat previously held by Rostin Behnam, whose term expired. Democrat Matthew Rowland of the District of Columbia was nominated to serve the remainder of a term expiring April 13, 2028, in the seat previously held by Summer K. Mersinger.

None of the four can take office without Senate confirmation. The White House did not say when the Senate would act on the nominations, according to Reuters.

A bipartisan slate with crypto-relevant resumes

The four nominees bring backgrounds that touch directly on the agencies' crypto work. Johnson previously served as a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, appointed by then-President Joe Biden, Reuters reported, which means she has already voted on crypto enforcement and market questions from inside the agency she would now regulate from the other side. Bloomberg Tax described her as a former CFTC commissioner and law school professor.

Levine has served as a senior official on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to Bloomberg Tax, placing him close to the administration's economic policy work. Anonick is a senior counsel on the Senate Agriculture Committee, the panel that oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Rowland is also a staffer for that committee, Bloomberg Tax reported.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig, who was picked by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2025, described the nominations of Rowland and Anonick in a post on X as "two strong bipartisan picks" whom he looked forward to working with, Reuters reported.

The January deadline hanging over confirmation

The timing is the story as much as the names. President Donald Trump's Republican Party is set to lose control of the Senate in January following last week's midterm election defeat, Reuters reported, which means the nominations must clear a chamber that will soon change hands. A Democratic Senate would still have to vote on the same four names, but the committee process, the hearing schedule and the political incentives would all shift.

The bipartisan pairing looks built for that reality. Each agency gets one Democrat and one Republican, so neither party can claim the slate tilts its way, and the pairing gives senators on both sides a reason to move the package rather than hold it. Whether the Senate acts before January, or lets the nominations carry into the new session, is the first test of that design.

What the two agencies mean for crypto

The nominations land while the division of crypto oversight between the two agencies is still unsettled. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has argued that offshore crypto exchanges should face federal registration and cybersecurity rules, a position Chair Selig tied directly to the $6.3 billion Binance hack in October, and the agency is drafting a framework for leveraged retail crypto trading that could move forward without Congress. The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, decides which crypto products reach US investors and how aggressively the industry is policed.

Congress has not resolved the split. The CLARITY Act, the market-structure bill that would draw the line between the two agencies, passed the House in 2025 and has stalled in the Senate. Until it moves, the composition of the two commissions is itself a policy decision, because commissioners vote on the rules, the enforcement cases and the product approvals that define the market in practice.

The market context

The nominations arrived on a weak week for crypto markets. Bitcoin ($BTC) traded near $71,600 on November 12, down about 3.4 percent over 24 hours, while Ethereum ($ETH) hovered near $2,000, according to CoinGecko. US spot Bitcoin ($BTC) exchange-traded funds recorded about $299.8 million in outflows on November 11, a fifth straight day of withdrawals, and spot Ethereum ($ETH) funds lost $144.8 million the same day. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 28, in Fear territory.

What to watch next

The next facts to watch are whether the Senate schedules confirmation hearings before the January handover, whether the Agriculture Committee moves the two Commodity Futures Trading Commission nominees and the Banking Committee moves the two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees on the same timetable, whether any senator puts a hold on a nominee over crypto policy, and whether the commissions' crypto rulemaking changes pace once the four seats are filled. The January deadline gives the confirmation fight a fixed clock.

Sources

• The White House, Nominations Sent to the Senate, November 12, 2026 (primary source: Nathan Anonick nominated as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for a term expiring June 19, 2031, vice Rostin Behnam; Kristin N. Johnson nominated as a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for a term expiring June 5, 2029, vice Caroline A. Crenshaw; Steven Levine nominated as a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission for a term expiring June 5, 2030, vice Hester Maria Peirce; Matthew Rowland nominated as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the remainder of the term expiring April 13, 2028, vice Summer K. Mersinger)
• Reuters, via SRN News, White House sends CFTC, SEC role picks to Senate for approval, November 12, 2026 (secondary source: the White House sent bipartisan nominations for roles at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Senate for approval; President Donald Trump's Republican Party is set to lose control of the chamber in January following last week's midterm election defeat; Kristin Johnson, a Democrat, was previously a CFTC commissioner, appointed by then-President Joe Biden; Steven Levine, a Republican, was nominated for a term expiring in 2030; Matthew Rowland, a Democrat, was nominated for the remainder of a term expiring in 2028; Nathan Anonick, a Republican, was nominated for a term ending in 2031; CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, picked by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2025, called Rowland and Anonick "two strong bipartisan picks")
• Bloomberg Tax, Trump Nominates Bipartisan Slate of CFTC, SEC Commissioners, November 12, 2026 (secondary source: the SEC nominees include Republican Steven Levine, who has served as a senior official on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Democrat Kristin Johnson, a former CFTC commissioner and law school professor; the CFTC nominees are Republican Nathan Anonick, a senior counsel on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Democrat Matthew Rowland, who also serves as a staffer for that panel)
• CoinDesk, via ChainCatcher, Trump Nominates Four Individuals for SEC and CFTC Positions, November 12, 2026 (secondary source: President Trump nominated four individuals to serve on the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, his first such nominations since 2025; former CFTC commissioner Kristin Johnson and attorney Steven Levine were nominated for SEC seats, while Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland were nominated for CFTC seats; all four nominations require Senate confirmation)

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.