U.S. House Lawmakers Urge Trump to Appoint New CFTC Commissioners
The lone commissioner running one of America’s most consequential financial regulators is raising alarms on Capitol Hill, and now, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are demanding action.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson and ranking member Angie Craig sent a letter to President Trump on Friday, calling on him to nominate a full bipartisan panel of commissioners for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The two representatives pointed to “urgent regulatory issues” confronting the agency, as well as the heavy rulemaking burden that would follow if the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act becomes law.
The push for Trump CFTC commissioner nominations comes at a particularly sensitive moment for crypto policy. Michael Selig is currently the only sitting commissioner at the CFTC, a position he took over after the resignation of acting chair Caroline Pham in December 2025. Since then, Selig has steered the commission in line with the administration’s policy priorities, including asserting exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.
At an April hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, Thompson closed proceedings by announcing that he and Craig would formally write to the White House, urging the prompt nomination of qualified individuals to fill all four vacant commissioner seats on a bipartisan basis. Ranking Member Craig argued pointedly that the CFTC cannot adequately oversee digital commodity trading and prediction markets with staffing levels below what even the first Trump administration had itself requested.
The stakes behind these Trump CFTC commissioner nominations extend well beyond the commission’s day-to-day operations. On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the CLARITY Act, moving the bill one step closer to a potential floor vote. The legislation would significantly expand CFTC authority over digital asset markets, creating a sweeping new rulemaking mandate for an agency that currently operates with a single commissioner.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had already flagged this vulnerability in January, proposing an amendment that would bar the CLARITY Act from taking effect until at least four CFTC commissioners had been nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
Thompson and Craig were unambiguous in their joint message to the White House. “Ensuring the Commission is well-equipped as the leading derivatives markets regulator in the world is a bipartisan priority for the members of our Committee,” they wrote. “A complete commission will allow the agency to best fulfill its mandate of promoting integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of U.S. derivatives markets.”
Meanwhile, the White House has been quietly weighing its first Democratic nominees for the CFTC. Among those under consideration for Democratic seats are Matt MacKenzie, a lobbyist at market-making firm Optiver, Bill Rockwood, general counsel to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Ari Officer, a trader involved in prediction markets at Jump Trading. For Republican slots, Nathan Anonick, Republican counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Chelsea Pizzola, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, are among those being considered.
As of Friday, Trump had not publicly announced any nominees. Any picks would likely require weeks or months to move through the Senate confirmation process. With the CLARITY Act gathering momentum and digital asset oversight growing more complex by the week, the absence of Trump CFTC commissioner nominations is a gap that Congress clearly wants closed, and fast.
