US President Donald Trump has nominated Steven Levine to replace former Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce, one of the agency’s most prominent crypto advocates, among four nominations to fill vacancies at the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The latest announcement from the White House on Thursday called two candidates each for the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, agencies whose decisions, among other things, help shape US cryptocurrency regulation. All four nominations require Senate confirmation.
The nominations would fill several commissioner roles. The SEC currently only has two of its five commissioner seats filledwhile CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is the sole Member of his agency’s five-member commission.
The nominations come weeks before Democrats are set to take control of the Senate in January, giving Republicans a narrow window to confirm Trump’s decisions.
Related: The chairman of the House Finance Committee says regulators’ actions on cryptocurrencies “fall short of the CLARITY Act.”
Levine, a Republican, was nominated to serve at the SEC until June 5, 2030, replacing Peirce, who left the agency in October. Peirce was a leading advocate for clearer crypto rules at the SEC and, as a former head of the Crypto Task Force, helped shape its approach to digital assets, while Levine’s views on crypto regulation are less public.
Trump also nominated Democrat Kristin Johnson, a former CFTC commissioner, to fill the SEC seat held by Caroline Crenshaw, whose term has also expired. Johnson’s proposed term ends June 5, 2029. Johnson has pushed for stronger customer protections and conflict of interest rules for crypto firms during her time at the CFTC.
For the CFTC, Trump nominated Republican Nathan Anonick and Democrat Matthew Rowland, both of whom worked on the Clarity Act. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig called He called them “two strong bipartisan candidates” for CFTC commissioners and said he looks forward to working with them upon their confirmation.
Nominees would typically appear before the Senate Banking Committee for the SEC positions and before the Senate Agriculture Committee for the CFTC positions. After committee consideration, their nominations would be sent to the full Senate, where confirmation requires a majority vote.
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