US Dems choose leadership for committees crucial to crypto policy

Democratic lawmakers have selected ranking members of key committees going into the 119th United States Congress as the party prepares to be in the minority. 

In a Dec. 11 notice, Democrats said California Representative Maxine Waters would continue to serve as the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee into 2025 as the new Congress is sworn in.

The House committee is responsible for legislation and policies affecting the financial services sector, including the cryptocurrency industry.

North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican, will chair the committee until Jan. 3, when he will leave office. Representative Waters has been acting as the committee’s ranking member — the highest leadership position for a party in the minority — since January 2023, when Republicans took a majority of seats in the House. 

With McHenry’s impending departure, a few Republicans are under consideration as the next committee chair, including digital assets subcommittee chair French Hill. Lawmakers in the party are expected to decide on leadership positions in the next seven days. 

Republicans will take control of the banking committee

With Democrats also losing their majority control of the Senate in January, the party is restructuring its roles for other committees impacting crypto policy. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren announced after winning her election against Republican John Deaton that she would be the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.

Related: What to expect on crypto policies depending on US election outcomes

The banking committee provides oversight of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and regulators relevant to the crypto industry. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a vocal digital asset skeptic who lost his reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno, will chair the committee until January.

Senator Tim Scott, the current ranking member of the banking committee, is poised to be the next chair. The South Carolina lawmaker said at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July that he would support pro-crypto legislation as chair if Republicans won a majority in the chamber.

Committee providing oversight of CFTC also changing hands

In the Senate Agriculture Committee, currently chaired by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow and Republican John Boozman as the ranking member, there is also expected to be a shakeup in leadership following the results of the 2024 election. 

Senator Stabenow announced in 2023 that she intended to retire at the end of her term, leaving the door open for Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar to potentially replace her as ranking member of the committee starting in January. Boozman is also expected to step up as chair.

The agriculture committee has oversight authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), one of the agencies responsible for regulating aspects of the crypto industry. If the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act is signed into law in the next Congress, the CFTC could have more significant influence over digital assets than the SEC.

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