The U.S. House is back in session this Monday, August 31, while the Senate will return after Labor Day on September 14. First order of business will be a Senate cloture vote the next day.
While most of the attention has been on the long, drawn out fight over a compromise on yield and the tug of war over more rigorous ethic measures from the White House, the vacancies at two regulatory agencies is also a major sticking point.
At the heart of market structure legislation is the process for determining when a digital asset is a security or a commodity. That’s why agriculture committees in both chambers have had the pen on drafting the landmark legislation, alongside the financial and banking committees.
Yet, the corresponding regulatory bodies are down key members of leadership and have no Democrats in their ranks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is about to become a commission of two when Commissioner Hester Peirce retires in November, leaving only Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda.
Since last December, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has operated as a one-man federal entity, with Chairman Michael Selig at the helm.
The CFTC’s oversight of digital assets includes ETFs, perpetuals, prediction markets, among other instruments. If enacted, the Clarity Act would expand the authority of the agency. Earlier this year, Chairman Selig testified before the House Agriculture Committee, where Members raised concerns about the deep vacancies. Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) had this to say following the Chair’s testimony. “I am deeply concerned that Chairman Selig has indicated a willingness to advance major new regulations without a full complement of commissioners in place. Rulemaking of this magnitude requires the full deliberative process the agency was designed to carry out — not unilateral action by a single sitting commissioner.” Efforts to install a bipartisan slate has been stalled, as White House officials and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) exchanged jabs and pointed blame. Last month, Schumer sent two Democratic nominees for the SEC and CFTC respectively to the White House, but his office has not disclosed their names. Given the partisan Senate standoff over the Clarity Act, having five sitting commissioners appointed from both sides of the aisle at the SEC and CFTC may help ease the tense negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 20, 2026. Senate efforts to pass a landmark cryptocurrency bill hit a snag last week as Democratic negotiators indicated they don’t yet support the latest GOP framework and some members balked at their narrowing window to act. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg © 2026 Bloomberg Finance LP