Vote postponed to renominate SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw

• Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown called it a “disgusting smear campaign against Caroline Crenshaw”
• The vote was postponed minutes before it was due to begin by Brown
• No date has been set for Crenshaw’s renomination

A US Senate vote to renominate Democrat Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been postponed.

The vote was originally scheduled on December 11; however, it was postponed minutes before it was due to begin, reports Bloomberg. Sherrod Brown, the Senate Banking Committee chair, delayed the vote. When Brown requested the vote occur later that day, Republican senators blocked his request.

Brown later released a statement saying that corporate special interests are running a “disgusting smear campaign against Caroline Crenshaw.”

No date has been set for her renomination.

Earlier this week, crypto and blockchain advocacy groups voiced their opposition to Crenshaw’s renomination.

In a letter to Brown and Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Tim Scott, the Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund argued that Crenshaw’s actions have undermined Congress’s mandate to establish clear regulatory policies for the crypto industry.

In their letter, they mention Crenshaw’s “continued opposition to the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETP.”

Following the news of Crenshaw’s reappointment, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, took to X to say: “She tried to block the Bitcoin ETFs, and was worse than Gensler on some issues (which I didn’t think was possible).”

A Republican-majority SEC?

The delay to Crenshaw’s renomination opens up the possibility of a three-person Republican SEC once Donald Trump enters the White House in January. Crenshaw’s term at the SEC officially ended in June; however, if she’s renominated she would be the only Democratic SEC commissioner.

The SEC can make up to five commissioners, but no more than three can form the same political party. Current SEC chair Gary Gensler, a Democrat, is stepping down on January 20, and SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga, also a Democrat, will step down on January 17.

Last week, Trump nominated pro-crypto Paul Atkins, a Republican, as chair of the SEC.

Including Gensler and Lizárraga, the three remaining SEC commissioners include Republicans Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda.