March was a busy month on Capitol Hill as lawmakers continued to push forward dangerous legislation covering un-stablecoins, held hearings covering the CFTC and important nominations, and responded to the lawless firings of independent commissioners at the FTC.
Un-Stablecoin Legislation Continues to Move Through Congress
On March 11th, House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled “Navigating the Digital Payments Ecosystem: Examining a Federal Framework for Payment Stablecoins and Consequences of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency.” During the hearing, Ranking Member Waters highlighted how President Trump has continued to use crypto to enrich himself, and pointed out the flaws in the legislation that will leave consumers more vulnerable to scams and abuse from the crypto industry. Better Markets also created a fact sheet on how Facebook’s proposed Libra stablecoin is a warning for any un-stablecoin legislation, and still brings up questions that the crypto and tech industries have yet to answer.
Later that week, on March 13th, Senate Banking Committee held a markup to advance out of the Committee their un-stablecoin legislation. Better Markets has several concerns with this legislation that have still not been answered. While ultimately the bill was passed out of Committee and could get voted on the full Senate floor in April, Better Markets will continue to educate Senate offices on the critical unanswered questions for this legislation.
Letter to Senate Leadership on the Importance of Minority Commissioners at Independent Agencies
On March 25th, Better Markets sent a letter to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar to urge them to insist on bipartisan independent commissioners at the CFTC and other independent agencies. This comes after the lawless firing of two Democratic commissioners at the FTC. Better Markets will continue to fight for bipartisan representation at all independent regulatory agencies. Read the full letter here.
House Agriculture Committee Holds Hearing on 50 Years of the CFTC
On March 25th, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing entitled “The CFTC at 50: Examining the Past and Future of Commodity Markets.” During the hearing, Ranking Member Angie Craig highlighted a number of challenges facing the CFTC, including a lack of funding and staffing to keep up with demands of the markets, but also pointed to the importance of the agency to protect consumers from excessive speculation. Better Markets released a fact sheet highlighting the importance of the agency as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, especially as it comes to position limits. Be sure to read the full fact sheet here.
Senate Banking Hears from Several Important Nominees at Regulatory Agencies
On March 27th, the Senate Banking Committee held a nominations hearing to hear the testimonies from Paul Atkins who was nominated for SEC Chair, Jonathan Gould for Comptroller of the Currency, Luke Pettit for an Assistant Secretary at US Treasury, and Marcus Molinaro for Federal Transit Administrator. Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren pressed both Paul Atkins and Jonathan Gould on their numerous conflicts of interest and other issues as they look to head the SEC and OCC. Better Markets also has important questions for these nominees, which are laid out in our fact sheets on Paul Atkins here and Jonathan Gould here.
