Senate action on any CFTC nominations will wait
November 19, 2013 | 06:59 PM
The Senate will not take up any nominations to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission until next year even though the commission may end up with only two commissioners at the end of the year, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said today.
CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler’s term runs out at the end of the year, plus Bart Chilton, a Democratic commissioner, has said he plans to depart soon and Jill Sommers, a Republican commissioner, stepped down in July.
The departures of Gensler and Chilton would leave the commission, which is supposed to have five members, with only two.
But Stabenow said her committee would not be moved by concerns about the number of commissioners. Citing the end to pass a farm bill and finish the budget negotiations, Stabenow said her committee would not have time to take up the nominations until the first quarter of 2014. But she noted that the committee has a record of moving quickly on nominations once it has received all the paper work from the White House.
President Barack Obama has nominated Timothy Massad, a Treasury official, to succeed Gensler, and J. Christopher Giancarlo to succeed Sommers. The White House has not put forward a nomination to fill the Chilton slot.
Stabenow said she did not know whether the committee would wait for the nominee for Chilton’s seat so that all three nominees could be considered together.
Both Chilton and Sommers had agricultural backgrounds, and farm groups have asked Obama to nominate a candidate with agricultural experience.
CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler’s term runs out at the end of the year, plus Bart Chilton, a Democratic commissioner, has said he plans to depart soon and Jill Sommers, a Republican commissioner, stepped down in July.
The departures of Gensler and Chilton would leave the commission, which is supposed to have five members, with only two.
But Stabenow said her committee would not be moved by concerns about the number of commissioners. Citing the end to pass a farm bill and finish the budget negotiations, Stabenow said her committee would not have time to take up the nominations until the first quarter of 2014. But she noted that the committee has a record of moving quickly on nominations once it has received all the paper work from the White House.
President Barack Obama has nominated Timothy Massad, a Treasury official, to succeed Gensler, and J. Christopher Giancarlo to succeed Sommers. The White House has not put forward a nomination to fill the Chilton slot.
Stabenow said she did not know whether the committee would wait for the nominee for Chilton’s seat so that all three nominees could be considered together.
Both Chilton and Sommers had agricultural backgrounds, and farm groups have asked Obama to nominate a candidate with agricultural experience.
