Post-election, Rep. French Hill is calling on federal agencies, including U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, to "immediately halt" all ongoing rulemaking.
The Arkansas Republican sent a letter to Gensler, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, among others on Wednesday.
"Americans have expressed their widespread discontent over the outgoing administration's excessive regulatory overreach throughout the past four years," Hill said in the letter.
Hill also criticized the agencies' rules and said they had "stifled economic growth and innovation."
"As a matter of transparency and public accountability, each of your agencies should abandon any action or plan to force through a politicized regulatory agenda, which voters have already rejected," he added. "It is in the interest of all Americans that this agenda be halted immediately in order to restore the balance between the government and the people it serves."
Hill's letter comes a week after President-elect Donald Trump won the presidency, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. Agencies have rules that have been proposed but not yet adopted, including the SEC's Regulation ATS. The SEC proposed the rule in 2022 and was reopened for comments in April. It would broaden the definition of an exchange and could ultimately require decentralized projects to register with the agency as alternative trading systems.
If rules were to be adopted, depending on a few factors, lawmakers could use the Congressional Review Act as a tool to nullify them, according to a person familiar. The Congressional Review Act, or CRA, was enacted in 1996, and can be used by lawmakers to "overturn certain federal agency actions," according to the Congressional Research Service.
To overturn a rule, both the Senate and House would have to introduce a joint resolution and vote in favor of it, which would later have to be signed by the president. According to the Congressional Research Service, the CRA has been used to overturn 20 rules so far.
Meanwhile, Hill is vying to lead the House Financial Services Committee next year if Republicans take the majority in the U.S. House. The results of the U.S. House race have not yet been called; Republicans hold 216 seats, while Democrats hold 207 as of Wednesday morning. For a majority, 218 is needed.
The House Financial Services Committee has been at the forefront of crypto-bill introductions, and some have passed over the past few years under its chair, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. McHenry is set to retire in January 2025, leaving a space open for a new lead.
That new chair will likely be picked by November or December. Representatives French Hill of Arkansas, Andy Barr of Kentucky, Bill Huizenga of Michigan, and Frank Lucas of Oklahoma—all friendly toward crypto—are also being considered to lead the committee.
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