Trump Names 4 to Fill SEC, CFTC Vacancies, Including Democrats

One Republican and one Democrat for each agency

First Democratic commissioner nominations since Trump returned to office

Includes figure involved in crypto legislation

President Donald Trump has nominated four candidates — two Republicans and two Democrats — to serve as commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It is the first time Trump has included Democratic nominees for the two agencies since returning to office.

According to a White House announcement on Nov. 12, Trump nominated Republican Stephen Levin and Democrat Kristin Johnson to the SEC. He named Republican Nathan Ahnonick and Democrat Matthew Rowland to the CFTC. The nominees will take office if confirmed by the Senate.

Levin, an SEC nominee, has held a senior role at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He previously served as deputy chief of staff when Mark Uyeda was acting SEC chair.

Johnson, a former CFTC commissioner, left the agency last year. She has worked in both finance and academia, including as a vice president at JPMorgan Chase and a professor at George Washington University Law School.

Ahnonick, a CFTC nominee, is the Republican senior legal counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee. He played a key role in drafting the committee's provisions in the Clarity Act, which would establish a regulatory framework for the crypto market.

Ahnonick also handled key committee work as the prediction-market industry expanded rapidly. The issue centers on a jurisdictional dispute between the CFTC and state governments over oversight of prediction-market products that let users wager on sports outcomes. Rowland, a Democrat, also serves as a Senate Agriculture Committee staffer.

If all four nominees win Senate confirmation, the SEC would have four commissioners and the CFTC would have three. Both agencies would still need additional appointments to reach their full five-member rosters.