The White House has vetted candidates for key CFTC vacancies, officials tell CNBC

The White House has vetted candidates for four open committee positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, three people familiar with the matter told CNBC. It’s unclear when or if the White House will ultimately take action against these candidates.

Five members of the CFTC must be members of the party in charge of the White House, and two members must be members of the opposing party. But for now, the CFTC, which regulates derivatives contracts, has only one chairman, Michael Selig.

Bloomberg News reported earlier this year about bipartisan names the White House may be considering for the vacant seat. In early July, the Trump administration sent a letter to Senate leadership claiming that Democrats had not submitted recommendations for vacancies for both the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and explaining why the vacancies at both Wall Street regulatory bodies had not yet been filled.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York sent a letter in late July that included proposals for vacant Democratic slots on both regulators.

“Democrats support creating a fully bipartisan commission,” a spokesperson for Schumer’s office said in a statement. “We did our part and sent nominations to the White House for the Democratic vacancies at the CFTC and SEC.” The spokesperson added that the administration has not received any response from the White House and should act quickly and work with Democrats if the administration is ready to vet candidates and make nominations.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

CNBC could not confirm who Schumer sent or whether they were among the candidates vetted by the White House.

As the Senate seeks to pass the Clarity Act, a proposed cryptocurrency market structure that requires Democratic votes to reach the 60 votes needed for passage, critics have criticized the White House for leaving open Democratic seats at the SEC and four bipartisan seats at the CFTC.

A Republican lawmaker working on Clarity and one of the people familiar with the review noted that ensuring that vacancies at the CFTC are filled would be a key concession from the White House to ensure passage of Clarity. But this issue is just one of many concerns plaguing the bill, including ethical concerns regarding President Donald Trump’s family’s crypto interests.

The Senate is scheduled to take a key procedural vote on the Transparency Act on September 15th.

But Republicans working on the bill told CNBC that they don’t expect the White House to fill any of the CFTC’s four remaining committee seats if the proposal doesn’t win Senate approval, even though they personally want a clean slate.

There are bipartisan calls for the White House to fill the CFTC’s four committee seats. In May, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (Pennsylvania), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and ranking member Rep. Angie Craig (Minnesota) called on President Trump to appoint the vacancies on the committee. The committee deals with issues related to the House’s CFTC.

Craig reiterated that call in a statement to CNBC. “The Trump Administration must ensure that the CFTC has the staff and resources necessary to fulfill its mission, including a bipartisan commission.”

Thompson said Tuesday that he, like Schumer’s office, had not yet heard anything from the White House about the nominees.

“There was no feedback,” he said. “But I truly believe that good governance means qualified people are confirmed by the Senate and serve in those positions.”