Trump Names Four to Fill SEC and CFTC Seats, Including Peirce Successor

President Donald Trump has nominated Steven Levine, a Republican, to fill the SEC seat vacated by Hester Peirce, one of the agency's most prominent crypto advocates, in a batch of four nominations to restock the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The White House announced the picks on Thursday, naming two nominees each for the SEC and CFTC, the two agencies whose decisions shape US cryptocurrency regulation. All four nominations require Senate confirmation, and Republicans hold only a narrow window to secure it: Democrats take control of the Senate in January.

The stakes for market structure are concrete. The SEC currently has just two of its five commissioner seats filled. At the CFTC, Chairman Michael Selig is the sole member of his agency's five-seat commission, leaving both regulators operating well below full strength while crypto rulemakings remain in motion.

Who are the SEC nominees?

Levine, a Republican, was nominated for an SEC term ending June 5, 2030. He would replace Peirce, who left the agency in October after years as one of its loudest voices for clearer crypto rules and as former head of its Crypto Task Force. Levine's own views on crypto regulation are less publicly established, which leaves open how the seat's policy posture will shift.

Trump also nominated Democrat Kristin Johnson, a former CFTC commissioner, for the SEC seat held by Caroline Crenshaw, whose term has already expired. Johnson's proposed term runs to June 5, 2029. During her CFTC tenure, Johnson advocated stronger customer protections and conflict-of-interest rules for crypto firms — positions that could sharpen the SEC's approach to trading-platform safeguards.

What changes at the CFTC?

For the CFTC, Trump nominated Republican Nathan Anonick and Democrat Matthew Rowland. Both worked on the Clarity Act, the market-structure bill that would split digital-asset oversight between the two agencies, and both would bring that legislative experience directly into the commission.

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig called them "two strong bipartisan picks" for commissioner roles and said he looked forward to working with them upon their confirmation.

What happens next?

Process is straightforward but time-constrained. The SEC nominees would typically appear before the Senate Banking Committee, the CFTC nominees before the Senate Agriculture Committee. After committee consideration, each nomination moves to the full Senate, where confirmation requires a majority vote.

The compressed calendar is the story: with the chamber flipping to Democratic control in January, the Senate has weeks, not months, to process hearings, committee votes and floor action for all four picks. Any nomination left unconfirmed when the new Congress convenes would likely need to be renominated and clear a less favorable chamber.