Senate confirms SEC chief Gensler to full five-year term

The Senate on Tuesday voted to approve Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for a full five-year term after confirming him to the Wall Street watchdog last week.

Senators voted 54 to 45 for Gensler to serve as a commissioner and chairman of the SEC through June 5, 2026. The Senate last week confirmed Gensler to serve the remaining two months of former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s term by a nearly identical margin.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) Susan Collins (Maine), and Mike Rounds (S.D.) were the only Republicans to vote for Gensler’s confirmation, and Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.) voted present.

All 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, including independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine), voted for Gensler.

Gensler, who was sworn in to the SEC on Sunday, was a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management before joining the commission. He was also the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Obama administration, a Treasury Department undersecretary during the Clinton administration and a partner at Goldman Sachs for almost two decades.

The SEC is currently split between three Democratic and two Republican commissioners. It is banned under law from having more than three commissioners from the same political party.

Democratic Commissioners Allison Herren Lee and Caroline Crenshaw and Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Elad Roisman were all appointed by former President Trump.