U.S. CFTC's Johnson Says She'll Also Exit, Leaving an Empty House for Incoming Chair

The U.S. crypto industry's potential primary watchdog, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has a staffing problem at the top, with the last of its sitting commissioners announcing her departure plans before the arrival of the agency's chairman picked by President Donald Trump.

Democrat Kristen Johnson has now joined the other three sitting commissioners in making her departure plans clear on Wednesday, leaving Trump's choice to lead the agency — former Commissioner Brian Quintenz — potentially running an empty commission.

If confirmed by the Senate, Quintenz is taking over the spot currently occupied by Christy Goldsmith Romero, a Democrat who said she's planning to leave by the end of this month, whether Quintenz arrives or not. Since Johnson said she'd leave "later this year," she may serve opposite Quintenz for some period of time in a one-to-one Republican-Democratic faceoff there.

Johnson, who was installed at the five-member commission in a partial term that recently expired, had the option of remaining at the agency until she was replaced. She didn't immediately respond to a request for more clarity on her departure timing.

The commission's two sitting Republicans also have exit plans, with Summer Mersinger taking over the Blockchain Association, a crypto lobbying group, and Acting Chair Caroline Pham intending to head back to an unspecified role in the private sector once Quintenz takes over.

That's the end of the list of current commissioners, meaning Quintenz could be left alone atop the regulator of U.S. derivatives markets unless Trump makes some fast nominations and the Senate responds quickly. So far, the lawmakers have moved relatively slowly on Quintenz in contrast with the CFTC's sister agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, that's already proceeding under the management of Trump pick Paul Atkins.

The CFTC had been down to two commissioners in recent years during the tenure of previous Chairman Rostin Behnam, and the four current commissioners were sworn in within a couple weeks of each other in 2022 to fill the roster. Under the law, the agency can operate without its full complement of commissioners, but legal observers have argued in the past that a single remaining commissioner from one party could face legal challenges in trying to implement a unilateral agenda.

The derivatives regulator is likely to be the leading watchdog of U.S. crypto activity under legislation being considered in Congress to establish a domestic oversight regime. While the demand for the agency to craft crypto rules may not come for a while, any confusion or legal uncertainty atop the CFTC may be problematic.

Johnson, who had taken a three-year leave from Emory University School of Law to correspond with the time left in the term she stepped into, concentrated much of her farewell statement on artificial-intelligence work. But she also referenced crypto.

"I encouraged the commission to begin a multi-stakeholder dialogue on digital asset markets that would help to prepare the commission staff to create regulation to carry out a congressional mandate and, at the same time, offer educational workshops on foundational issues such as corporate governance, resolution planning, and customer protection features of CFTC regulation," she said. 

Read More: CFTC Commissioner Mersinger to Be CEO at Blockchain Association