🚨NEW: Democrat SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga told Bloomberg Law today he intends to step down on January 17th, leaving just one Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw, on the commission when Trump takes office.
So what does this mean for the makeup of the @SECGov commission going forward?
It means there will now be three open seats for Trump to fill come January 20th. It also means that until those nominees have been confirmed, there will be a 2-1 Republican majority at the SEC (Uyeda and Peirce the Republicans and Crenshaw the Democrat). Crenshaw’s term is technically up but she can serve until her replacement is confirmed.
The 2-1 majority means that Uyeda and Peirce would have the most say on enforcement decisions, as the commission votes to being enforcement actions.
Trump will likely choose two Democrats that are more closely aligned with his policies. Past precedent has been that the minority party recommends the minority nominees to the president, which makes for an easier confirmation process, but the president isn’t obligated to take the advice.
Trump could also choose to appoint independents to the seats. The rules are that there can’t be more than three members from the same political party as the president on the commission. For example, Jay Clayton the former chairman during Trump’s first term, was an independent.
Much like he has done with the Supreme Court, Trump will now get to leave his mark on the makeup of the Securities and Exchange Commission too.