Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Summer Mersinger announced Wednesday that she will step down from her post at the end of the month to lead the Blockchain Association, a pro-cryptocurrency lobbying group.
Mersinger’s departure comes two years after she became a CFTC commissioner and three years before the end of her current term. The Republican, appointed by former President Joe Biden, has supported the CFTC’s controversial oversight duties of nascent sports prediction markets, which by default have fallen under CFTC purview because the agency regulates futures trading.
Her premature exit erodes the CFTC’s thin leadership team at a time when it has offered little public direction about how it plans to approach one of the hottest topics in sports betting and financial technology circles.
CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham will depart for the private sector once a full-time nominee for her position is installed, an agency official confirmed in a phone call. Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero previously announced she will retire at that point. When Mersinger, Pham and Romero are all out, the CFTC will be down to two commissioners. The agency is supposed to have five.
President Donald Trump has nominated Brian Quintenz to lead the CFTC permanently, but his hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry remains unscheduled. As president, Trump makes CFTC commissioner nominations.
Quintenz lists himself as an active board member at Kalshi, one of the leading platforms for sports prediction markets, on his LinkedIn profile.
In a statement through the CFTC, Mersinger said her decision came after “careful consideration, long discussions with my family and lots of prayers.” She called it a “privilege” to “assist in pursuing the president’s important policies.”
Alongside Pham, a Republican, the CFTC’s other remaining commissioners beyond this month are both Democrats: Romero, who plans to step down once Quintenz is confirmed by the Senate, and Kristin Johnson. No political party can be represented by more than three of the agency’s five commissioners at a given time, according to its rules.
Given the president’s widespread cuts of federal workers who do not align with his views, Johnson appears to be on unstable ground. When asked by Bloomberg TV this month whether Trump firing Johnson is a concern, Pham did not directly address the question, with her answer instead focused on a February executive order emphasizing the role of cost-benefit analysis in department decision making. Pham did not mention how the order seemingly curtails agency independence.
“The CFTC is going to follow the statutory mandate no matter what,” Pham said.
(This story has been updated in the fourth paragraph with CFTC confirmation of Caroline Pham’s move to the private sector.)
