“Anyone who tracks the Securities and Exchange Commission already knows that President Obama wants New York attorney Mary Jo White to be the agency’s next leader.

“But the person currently holding that position has no intention of simply keeping the seat warm until the White House pick gets there. In fact, that’s the reason the word “acting” does not appear before SEC Chairman Elisse Walter’s title, even though she may hold the job for only a few more months.

““I made it clear to everyone that I wasn’t interested in being a caretaker,” Walter said. “I wasn’t going to just switch the lights on in the morning and off at the end of the day. If I was going to be chairman, I was going to be chairman.”

“For the White House, Walter was a reliable pick. She had been a commissioner since 2008, and her term was not set to expire until the end of this year. Walter could slip into the job that Mary Schapiro left vacant in December without Senate confirmation. And she had worked at the agency in various capacities for about two decades.”

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