Hill: SEC, CFTC Crypto Rules Fall Short of CLARITY Act — SkimNews
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- Rep. French Hill (R-Arkansas), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox Business that SEC and CFTC actions on crypto regulation "[fell] short" of what the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act would deliver.
- The Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act last month, and both the SEC and CFTC have since moved to propose rulemaking covering different aspects of digital asset oversight in its absence.
- Hill said he still has "hope" the CLARITY Act could pass during the lame duck session of Congress — a window in which the Senate will only have 22 days in session between November's midterms and the 2027 Congress.
- Hill noted that election results could shape CLARITY votes, since lame duck lawmakers will know whether they are returning to Congress in January or leaving office.
- The two regulators are operating with severe staffing gaps: seven total vacancies sit at the leadership level across the SEC and CFTC, with the SEC down to just Chair Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda after Commissioner Hester Peirce's resignation last week, and the CFTC down to sole Commissioner/Chair Michael Selig.
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig announced plans to advance crypto regulation at the direction of President Donald Trump, prompting Hill's push for a permanent statutory framework instead.
Why it matters: With the CLARITY Act stalled and seven commissioner seats vacant across the two agencies that oversee crypto, the entire US digital asset framework now rests on agency rulemaking that Hill — a key congressional gatekeeper — says is insufficient. The 22-day lame duck window is the only realistic legislative opportunity before 2027, and its outcome hinges on how the November midterms reshape the lawmakers voting on it.
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