President Donald Trump nominated two Democrats on Thursday among a slate of potential candidates to fill vacant commissioner roles at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Trump tapped Democrat Kristin Johnson to serve as an SEC commissioner, according to a statement on the White House’s website. Johnson, a professor of law at George Washington University, served as a commissioner at the CFTC from 2022 to 2025 and, at one point, was seen as a front-runner to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. through a cultural overhaul after a damning 2023 scandal.
If confirmed, Johnson would serve a term that expires in 2029, replacing Caroline Crenshaw, who left the SEC in January and was the last Democrat to sit on the regulator’s board.
Trump’s reluctance to nominate anyone from the political party that opposes him has tested how regulators function at the board level – and spurred concern from lawmakers.
Eleven Democratic senators urged Trump in June to nominate Democrats for seats set aside for the opposing party at the FDIC and SEC, where no Democrats serve.
“A full slate of commissioners and board members can bring a range of perspectives to policies that shape our markets,” the senators wrote at the time, adding that as the agencies “pursue consequential reforms across the economy and financial system, we are concerned that their lack of Democratic voices thwarts congressional intent.”
The SEC and CFTC are navigating how to establish and enforce the regulation of digital assets after lawmakers failed to codify a framework for it.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins, for one, told the Senate Banking Committee in February he was “supportive of having a full complement of commissioners,” as it “helps with debates and everything else.”
To be sure, Trump nominated two Republicans on Thursday, as well, to serve in vacant seats on the SEC and CFTC boards.
Trump tapped Republican Steven Levine to serve as an SEC commissioner. Levine became senior counsel to the secretary of labor this month, according to LinkedIn, after a stint as general counsel for the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers and the panel’s designated ethics official.
Levine has a 4½-year history with the SEC, spending much of that time as counsel to Commissioner Mark Uyeda and later as his deputy chief of staff. Uyeda served as the SEC’s acting chair in the early months of Trump’s second term.
If confirmed, Levine would serve at the SEC through 2030 in a seat occupied until last month by Hester Peirce. If Levine and Johnson are both confirmed, the SEC would have three Republicans, one Democrat and an open seat.
Trump tapped Republican Nathan Anonick to serve as a commissioner at the CFTC. Anonick now serves as senior counsel on the Senate Agriculture Committee, which has oversight into the agency. Anonick, in his current role, helped the committee create its part of the Clarity Act, which failed to pass Congress.
Trump nominated a Democrat for an open CFTC seat, too. Matthew Rowland serves as the CFTC’s senior assistant general counsel for legislative and intergovernmental affairs and has been on staff at the agency since 2015, according to LinkedIn.
The CFTC now operates with just one commissioner, Chairman Mike Selig. If Anonick and Rowland are both confirmed, the agency would have two Republicans, one Democrat and two open seats.
Trump’s history with Democrats serving on financial regulatory boards has been spotty at best during his second term. The president in April 2025 fired the two Democrats serving on the National Credit Union Administration. The two board members sued to be reinstated, a judge agreed, and the case is still open.
Most famously, Trump attempted to fire Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook on allegations of mortgage fraud. That case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled Cook’s job is safe for now.
