President Trump on Thursday sent four nominations to the Senate for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), including his first Democratic picks for both agencies.
For the SEC, Trump tapped Kristin Johnson, a Democrat who previously served as a CFTC commissioner after being appointed by former President Biden in 2022, and Steven Levine, a Republican. Their terms would run until 2029 and 2030, respectively.
For the CFTC, the president nominated Democrat Matthew Rowland and Republican Nathan Anonick, with terms ending in 2028 and 2031, according to the White House.
All four nominees must be confirmed by the Senate. The SEC picks will go through the Senate Banking Committee, while the CFTC nominees fall under the Senate Agriculture Committee's jurisdiction.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig praised the selections, calling them "two strong bipartisan picks" in a post on X. "I congratulate them on their nominations and look forward to working with each of them upon their confirmation by the US Senate," Selig wrote.
The nominations mark a notable shift for Trump, who had previously only appointed Republicans to the two commissions. Both agencies are designed to have five-member panels with no more than three from one party, and Trump's inclusion of Democrats brings them closer to that structure.
Currently, the CFTC has only Selig as its sole commissioner, while the SEC has Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, both Republicans. The new nominees would fill some of those vacancies.
The move comes amid ongoing tensions over the makeup of these agencies. Senate Democrats had previously criticized Trump for not naming Democrats to the commissions during negotiations over the failed Clarity Act, a bill aimed at creating a regulatory framework for digital assets. Democrats blocked that legislation in September, arguing it lacked safeguards against potential conflicts of interest involving the Trump family's crypto ventures.
With these nominations, Trump appears to be attempting to ease some of that criticism, though the Senate confirmation process will test whether the picks can win bipartisan support.
