Will Trump fill CFTC seats before CLARITY Act rewrites crypto rules?

House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson and Ranking Member Angie Craig urged President Donald Trump to nominate a full bipartisan slate of Commodity Futures Trading Commission members. 

Their May 15 letter said the CFTC faces urgent work tied to derivatives markets, new technology, and changing market structures.

The lawmakers said Congress and the White House are working on legislation that would expand the CFTC’s mandate over spot digital commodity trades. They said a five-member commission would produce better regulations, more durable rules, and broader input from derivatives market users.

Senate vote adds pressure to the agency

The request came after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act by a 15-9 vote. The committee said the bill now moves to the Senate floor, where it would set federal rules for digital assets and market oversight.

Separate market updates said the bill still faces a harder path. The measure needs 60 Senate votes, an ethics provision remains unresolved, and the final text would still need to be reconciled with the House version before reaching Trump’s desk.

Moreover, the CFTC already has a thin leadership bench. Chairman Michael Selig has been the only sitting commissioner at the five-seat agency, and Reuters reported in April that he told Congress the agency would continue rulemaking despite the empty seats.

Industry comments shared with crypto.news show why the staffing issue matters to crypto firms. Aptos Labs CEO Avery Ching said, “Builder input is necessary to create the very best framework for digital assets.” Bitfinex Securities Head of Operations Jesse Knutson said investors want access to markets “not limited by legacy infrastructure.”

DoubleZero General Counsel Mari Tomunen said the bill helps create clearer legal boundaries for decentralized and non-custodial activity. Blockaid CEO Ido Ben-Natan said the debate should move toward clearer rules on consumer protection, illicit finance prevention, and market transparency.

Rulemaking load grows beyond market structure

The CFTC’s current work also reaches prediction markets and innovation policy. Crypto.news previously reported that the agency named members to an Innovation Task Force as it expanded work on crypto, AI, and prediction markets.

The agency has also fought to protect its role over prediction markets. On May 12, the CFTC filed an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit in a Kalshi case, saying it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.