Today, Congressional Leaders are returning to the Hill for the last weeks of this session. They have a lot of work ahead.
A government shutdown is unlikely at the moment (at least for now). Republicans and Democrats are both interested in passing a resolution to fund the federal government until March.
It’s a plus for Republicans to delay making major decisions until after they control both chambers. On the downside, Donald Trump may not want Congress to be tied down in appropriation legislation when he is trying to pass immigration policies and tax laws and get nominees approved by the Senate.
Dems would rather the Senate focus its efforts on getting President Biden’s judicial nominees confirmed as soon as possible. In addition, Senate funding measures require 60 votes, but Republicans have only 53. Democrats have not ceded all of their power.
The most likely outcome is a 3-month-stopgap. It’s not great news for anyone hoping to see a significant change in crypto policy during the first quarter of 2020.
But industry representatives are still confident that the US will see a shift in crypto policies under the Trump second administration. Faryar Shirzad is the Coinbase Chief Policy Officer. He told CNBC last week that he thinks the FIT21 Bill and Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act will move forward. “fairly quickly” Next year.
It’s impossible to deny that the fact that Republicans hold a narrow majority (or even a large one) in both the House of Representatives and Senate bodes well when it comes to advancing crypto-policy. But at the end of the day, it comes down to what lawmakers — namely, committee heads — want to prioritize.
Trump could take action in the form executive orders, particularly if he were to hire an a “crypto czar,” Blockworks originally reported in July on a potentially vacant position. People close to the issue have told us that a crypto czar’s team would be made up of industry executives and other interested parties. To get an idea of the members who may make up Trump’s new crypto-policy council, you should start by checking out Trump’s major industry donors.
In terms of agency actions, the Senate will need to confirm SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s successor, plus a replacement for resigning Commissioner Jaime Lizárrage.
Trump may name his nominee to head the SEC as early as today. According to one outlet, Trump has already requested former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins as the head of agency. “familiar with discussions”Atkins still hasn’t accepted it. Atkins has not responded to Blockworks’ comment request immediately.
Brian Brooks, a former acting comptroller for the currency and SEC chairman has also been mentioned.
Sanjat Wadhwa would likely replace the next SEC Chair, currently working as Acting Director of Enforcement. It could really change the way in which SEC enforces its laws and targets certain actors.
Regarding ongoing enforcement actions I said previously that I was skeptical the SEC would just throw these cases out as the process can be a little more complicated. However, stranger things have been known to happen.
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