White House rebuts SEC and CFTC vacancy criticism as CLARITY Act advances

White House officials rejected criticism that the administration is refusing to fill Democratic seats at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, saying it had requested suitable Democratic names for both agencies before Senate Democrats sent a June 10, 2026 complaint letter and received none in response. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and 11 Democratic ranking committee members had argued that the administration was failing to preserve bipartisan representation not only at the SEC and CFTC but also at the FDIC, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. The White House countered that it has continued to nominate Democrats to other bodies, citing Bartholomew Tanhauser and Samuel Negatu for the International Trade Commission, David Prouty for the National Labor Relations Board and Karen Jean Hedlund for the Surface Transportation Board. The dispute has taken on added significance for crypto policy because the SEC now has three commissioners, all Republicans — Paul Atkins, Hester M. Peirce and Mark T. Uyeda — after Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw left on Jan. 2, 2026, and because the CFTC is down to one member, Michael S. Selig, as Congress considers the CLARITY Act, which would shift significant cryptocurrency oversight toward the derivatives regulator.