WASHINGTON, D.C. – Better Markets sent a letter urging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar to insist on bipartisan independent commissions, including at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This is particularly important in light of the illegal firings of Democratic Commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week. Below are excerpts from letter:
“The tradition, history, practice, and precedent [of bipartisan commissions at the independent agencies] have been respected over many decades and by the Administrations of both parties. [Changing that] would dangerously deprive the agencies’ deliberative process of invaluable and irreplaceable multi-perspective inputs, views, experience, and expertise. That model has served the agencies, our financial system, the economy, and our country well for decades, including during the eight years of the Obama Administration and the four years of the Biden Administration when Republican members of those agencies fulfilled their roles as minority commissioners.
“This is not a partisan Democratic or Republican view; it is a bipartisan view as former Republican CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo testified … at a hearing of the House Agriculture Committee:
‘It is said that organizations reflect the ‘tone from the top.’ Certainly, the CFTC’s reduced partisanship mirrors the general cordiality and frequent bipartisanship of this Committee and its Senate counterpart compared to other Congressional committees of jurisdiction. That characteristic, in turn, reflects the courtesies and values of the citizens of America’s heartland. Maintaining this attitude is critical for the success of the CFTC in accomplishing its mission – only through continued bipartisanship and cooperation can the CFTC truly achieve its mission of fostering open, competitive, and financially sound markets.’
“The importance of the CFTC to the lives and livelihoods of all Americans cannot be overstated. The CFTC plays a crucial role in overseeing the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives and commodities markets. A key part of that is ensuring that vital products remain available to the American people at the right time, in the right amounts, and priced based primarily on supply and demand.
“Accomplishing those missions and statutory mandates require fulsome deliberation and thorough consideration of as many factors and views as possible. The presence of minority-party commissioners is not just good governance but helps ensure that regulatory decisions are subject to debate rather than being purely partisan exercises.
“We respectfully request that you insist that the tradition, history, practice, and precedent of genuine bipartisan commissions continue and that you be resolute in choosing effective public interest champions as Democratic nominees to the CFTC (and the other bipartisan commissions and agencies). Additionally, pairing nominees has also been the practice, and it should continue. As the CFTC likely enters unchartered waters with new responsibilities for novel and dangerous financial products, there is a great deal at stake for the American people, and they deserve a CFTC that is best positioned to make the best decisions that will serve the country well.”
You can find the letter here.
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.
