Caroline Crenshaw may yet have a chance to be confirmed for a second term as an SEC commissioner before the next congressional session.
The Senate Banking Committee will allegedly try again to confirm Caroline Crenshaw to another term at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before Democrats lose control in January.
According to a Punchbowl source from December 15, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, who will depart Congress on January 3, has set a vote on Crenshaw's nomination for December 18. The banking committee initially planned to vote on her nomination by US President Joe Biden on December 11.
Senator Brown stated that the nomination decision was postponed because Republican senators were "doing the bidding of corporate special interests," which could refer to the Bitcoin business. At least one dark money organization with ties to cryptocurrency, the Cedar Innovation Foundation, has petitioned US lawmakers to reject Crenshaw's candidacy.
Crenshaw, a Democrat who has been an SEC commissioner since 2020, was nominated for a second term by President Biden in June. Still, lawmakers in the Senate have yet to examine her candidacy before the chamber transitions from Democratic to Republican control in January.
Opponents of Crenshaw's confirmation allege she is "more anti-crypto" than SEC Chair Gary Gensler, citing her vote against approval of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in January (BTC tickers down $98,324).
Senators have a limited time to approve Crenshaw, who might become the lone Democratic SEC member after Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga and Chair Gensler resigned in January.
Interest groups supporting Crenshaw's candidacy have claimed that Donald Trump may ignore his responsibilities to select other SEC commissioners, putting the agency solely in Republican hands.
Under Gensler, the SEC took numerous enforcement proceedings against cryptocurrency firms, alleging that they issued and sold unregistered securities in specific tokens.
Many in the sector have attacked the SEC for this strategy, with some believing that it may have contributed to Democrat Kamala Harris' loss to Trump in the November presidential election.
New United States Senate and House of Representatives members are expected to be sworn in on January 3, giving Republicans a majority in both chambers. Senator Brown, who lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno, will be replaced by current ranking member Tim Scott as chair of the banking committee.
Following Brown's departure, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who won reelection over Republican rival John Deaton, will serve as the leading Democrat on the banking committee. The committee is in charge of implementing policies and rules that may impact the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries.
Trump stated he intends to pick former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace Gensler as chair. Many in the cryptocurrency business have supported Atkins, but his nomination would require a majority vote in the Senate.