Former President Donald Trump promised he would fire Gary Gensler on “day 1” if he wins, but could he actually fire the head of the SEC? And for that matter, can Vice President Harris do it now?
SEC chief Gary Gensler is deeply unpopular in crypto circles for his agency’s antagonistic stance towards the industry.
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Posted July 30, 2024 at 12:01 pm EST.
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Donald Trump received thunderous applause and a standing ovation when he promised to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on day 1 of a potential Trump administration.
But, considering that Gensler’s term ends in 2026, could Trump actually do that were he to take office in January 2025?
On the latest episode of Unchained, Justin Slaughter, policy director at Paradigm, explained that the answer is, basically, yes and no.
“The person who’s the chair serves at the pleasure of the president. At any time, the president can say, ‘You know what? I don’t like the current chair. I want to name someone else the chair,’ said Slaughter. “It basically never happens. But it is an existing cudgel.”
The wrinkle is that Gensler could, instead of leaving the SEC entirely, choose to become one of the five commissioners. However, Slaughter thinks it is unlikely Gensler would do this.
Of the 5,000 people who work at the SEC, 4,950 report to the chair, and each commissioner gets a handful of staff members of their own.
Read more: Trump Has Made Promises to Crypto Voters. If He’s Elected, What Could He Actually Do?
“If Gary Gensler ceases to be the chair on January 20th, 2025, he goes from having the entire building at his beck and call to having five people report to him,” said Slaughter, noting that he only has a vote, but no longer sets the agenda. “It is a tremendous loss of power. There’s a reason that almost every person who seems to be the chair of an agency or commission leaves within a year, because it is difficult to move from being a master of the universe to having not enough people to staff a Starbucks at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.”
Also discussed in the episode was the fact that Cameron Winklevoss has called on Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to have Gensler fired by Election Day. Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, emphasized that that decision was up to Biden, and that as VP, Harris can’t make that call.
Warren did say, however, that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “calls a lot of the shots on economic policy in the Biden administration. That is not the case for a Harris administration. Kamala Harris did not strike a deal with Elizabeth Warren to get elected. And she is not going to strike a deal.”
Read more: Blockchain Association Sends Letter Criticizing Sen. Warren’s Crypto AML Bill, but Will It Matter?
Noting that members of the crypto community had jumped on Sen. Warren’s quick endorsement of Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, saying that it showed they were “cronies,” Sheila Warren said, “It’s exactly the opposite. She endorsed her so quickly because she understands that that power that she has in the Biden administration in the White House is waning.”
In the meantime, there are things Harris could do to signal between now and the election that her administration would take a different path from Biden’s on crypto and the SEC. As for who exactly Harris might want as her own SEC chair, Slaughter and Warren said to carefully watch what happens with the renomination of SEC Commissioner Carolyn Crenshaw, which has been postponed till September.
Read more: What Would Trump Announcing a U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Mean?
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