US House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill said financial regulators are moving ahead on digital asset oversight, but their actions do not provide the long-term stability that congressional legislation would.
In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business, the Arkansas Republican said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had taken steps on crypto regulation after the Senate failed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act last month. Both agencies have proposed rulemaking covering different parts of crypto oversight and enforcement, but Hill said the response after the failed Senate vote still "fell short" of a legislative solution.
"I still have hope [...] that we can get [CLARITY] passed in the lame duck session of Congress," Hill said. "We need that permanent law change to make sure America is number one in digital assets and blockchain technology."
Hill made the remarks after SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig said they planned to keep advancing crypto regulation at the direction of US President Donald Trump.
He also noted that the Senate would have only 22 days in session between the November US midterm elections and the start of the next Congress in 2027. During that lame duck period, election results could influence votes for or against CLARITY because lawmakers would already know whether they were returning to Congress or leaving in January.
Both agencies have vacant commissioner seats
As of Wednesday, there were seven open leadership-level vacancies across the SEC and CFTC. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce announced her resignation last week, leaving the agency with only Chair Atkins and Mark Uyeda. At the CFTC, Selig is serving as both chair and the agency’s only commissioner.