Trump hints at pushing through SEC chair with recess appointment

United States President-Elect Donald Trump has suggested he would bypass the Senate confirmation process for appointments in his administration, seemingly including a replacement for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler. 

In a Nov. 10 X post, Trump suggested that he alone had the authority to choose which US Senator would be the majority leader in the chamber starting in January 2025 when the new Congress will be sworn into office. According to the Republican, he wanted potential majority leaders to agree to recess appointments to bypass the confirmation process and get people in positions of authority “immediately” rather than going through questioning and scrutiny from lawmakers. 

Under the US Constitution, the President “shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” During his first term, this authority allowed Trump to appoint individuals who may have otherwise not been approved by the Senate. Recess appointments are intended to be temporary and not a substitute for Senate approval. 

US President Joe Biden nominated Gensler as an SEC commissioner in 2021, which the Senate approved in a 54 to 45 vote for a term ending in June 2026. During Trump’s first term, he went through the constitutional process for appointing SEC commissioners but also tried to bypass the Republican-controlled Senate to make a US Attorney General recess appointment.

Who will succeed Gary Gensler?

It’s unclear whether any of Trump’s potential picks for SEC chair would have enough votes to pass confirmation in the Senate or if he even intends to officially nominate anyone for any position and fall back entirely on recess appointments. The Republican president-elect had not publicly named any potential replacement for Gensler at the time of publication.

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Firing SEC Chair Gensler “on day one” was one of Trump’s campaign promises to the crypto industry if he won reelection, but experts have suggested he cannot remove Gensler from the commission without cause. In some cases, regulators simply choose to resign when there is a changeover in political parties at the White House, but the SEC chair has not suggested he would leave. 

Mary Jo White, the SEC chair during President Barack Obama’s second term, ended her time at the commission on Jan. 20, 2017 — Trump’s inauguration day. Jay Clayton, who succeeded White, was approved by the Senate in a 61 to 37 vote. The nomination and approval process left the commission without a chair for roughly four months.  

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