Nathan Anonick heads a four-name slate for the SEC and CFTC

The White House on November 12, 2026 sent the Senate four commissioner nominations that would restaff the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Republican Nathan Anonick of Virginia is the CFTC name on that list. The binding constraint is the arithmetic of a five-member commission. If the Senate confirms Republican Steven Levine alongside Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, the two sitting members Cointelegraph identified as Republicans from Hester Peirce's resignation letter, the SEC hits its ceiling of three members from one party, and Democrat Kristin Johnson would be its sole Democratic member.

President Donald Trump's nominations list gives Anonick a CFTC term expiring June 19, 2031, in the seat previously held by Rostin Behnam, whose term the notice describes as expired. Matthew Rowland, of the District of Columbia, is nominated for the remainder of a CFTC term expiring April 13, 2028, in Summer Mersinger's former seat. Kristin Johnson, of Michigan, is nominated to the SEC through June 5, 2029, in Caroline Crenshaw's former seat, and Steven Levine, of Maryland, through June 5, 2030, in Hester Maria Peirce's former seat. Reuters identified Anonick and Levine as Republicans and Rowland and Johnson as Democrats. Each nominee takes office only after the Senate confirms the name.

The benches they would join

The four would join benches that are already thin. The SEC commissioner page, reviewed on October 3, 2026, lists Atkins, chairman since 2025 with a term expiring in 2031, and Uyeda, in office since 2022 with a term expiring in 2028. The CFTC commissioner page lists Chairman Michael Selig, sworn in on December 22, 2025, as its only member. Both pages cap any single party at three commissioners. Cointelegraph reported that Peirce's term had expired in June 2025, that her resignation was effective October 2, 2026, a day after Atkins and Uyeda posted a departure statement, and that Crenshaw, the prior Democratic commissioner, had departed in January.

Related:Visa and eligible partners may settle VisaNet obligations in USDPT

The Block described Anonick as legislative counsel to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman and a lead negotiator on that committee's share of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Bloomberg called him senior counsel on the same committee. Rowland is a CFTC attorney detailed to that committee, and Decrypt reported that both men worked on the Clarity Act and the committee's 2024 crypto bill. Johnson is a former CFTC commissioner appointed by President Joe Biden, Reuters reported, and Bloomberg described her as a law school professor. A February 4, 2025 SEC release named Levine deputy chief of staff to then-Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, and The Block said he later served as general counsel and a senior adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Selig answered on the evening of the announcement. In a post on X, Chairman Michael Selig wrote that "@POTUS made two strong bipartisan picks for @CFTC Commissioners with Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland." In a September 7, 2023 statement on cases against the decentralized finance (DeFi) operators Opyn, Deridex and ZeroEx, Johnson wrote of platforms that play an intermediary role: "In my opinion, they can and should be regulated." Levine would inherit the Crypto Task Force seat. Decrypt reported that his public views on digital assets are thinly established, so confirmation would install a résumé and a party slot where Peirce left a long digital-asset record.

The CFTC has already deemed single-stock perpetual futures approved, and Letter 26-30 lets a trust company settle a clearinghouse. Industry Spread has described the SEC crypto broker-dealer rule as a measure whose public text is still unreleased. Confirming all four would lift the CFTC from Selig alone to three Senate-confirmed members and the SEC from two members to four, with Levine using the third same-party seat and the fifth SEC chair left for the party cap to police.

The Senate Banking Committee's nomination hearing notice sets an open session for Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in Dirksen 538, with Johnson and Levine on the list. The CFTC nominations go to the Senate Agriculture Committee, where Anonick and Rowland already work, The Block reported. Reuters said the president's party is set to lose the Senate in January after the midterm defeat, which squeezes a floor vote into the lame-duck weeks. A hearing seats the SEC pair at the witness table and leaves confirmation of all four names as a later vote, which is what turns the staffing plan into a commission.

This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can lose substantial value rapidly. Past performance and historical patterns do not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a regulated financial adviser before making any investment decision.