At a Senate Banking Committee executive session Thursday, Senate Democrats opposed the nomination of two people selected for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which led to a postponed vote by Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
The nominees in question were Lisa Fairfax, nominated as the Democratic member to the SEC, and Hester Peirce, nominated as the Republican member to the SEC.
Shelby moved to vote on all nominations en bloc, as opposed to voting on an individual basis. Ultimately, Shelby moved to postpone the vote, as all Democrats voted against the nominations as a whole.
Initially, Shelby called out that the ayes have it, even though there were six Republicans and six Democrats voting, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said he voted no.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) questioned the length of time it has taken the Senate Banking Committee to bring the nominations before the committee.
“These people have been asked to take on important jobs and it is incumbent for us to act on them promptly,” Brown said before the vote.
He cited the extensive time some of the nominees have been waiting for a vote. Jay Neal Lerner, who was nominated to the inspector general position at the FDIC, has been waiting for 500 days, Brown said. Additionally, Amais Gerety, who was nominated to be an assistant secretary of the Treasury, has been waiting for almost 400 days, he added.
“I hope we can do better on future nominees,” he said.
In a nod to NCUA Board Member J. Mark McWatters’ nomination to the Export-Import Bank, he added, “I would ask that we move forward more quickly for the nomination to the Export-Import Bank, which will mean that agency will be able to carry out its mission.”
Shelby said he will not move on the McWatters nomination until the administration nominates a vice chairman of supervision to the Federal Reserve.
Opposition to the SEC nominees came from several Senate Democrats. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said his opposition stemmed from both nominees failing to provide a sufficient answer to the question of the SEC’s rulemaking on the disclosure of corporate political spending.
“This should be a priority for the SEC,” Schumer said. “Citizen’s United opened the floodgate for a deluge of dark money into the political system.”
He added both Peirce and Fairfax demurred on their positions on the subject.
The senator asked both to submit their responses in writing.
“Their answers were gobbly gook,” he said.
Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) both expressed reasons for the opposition that were similar to Schumer’s. However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took her opposition a step further, particularly against Peirce.
“I have serious concerns about Ms. Peirce’s nomination based on her stated views about Dodd-Frank,” Warren said. “I think that it is dangerous [to have] anyone in an SEC commissioner position, someone that would have to implement and enforce the law, who seems to be so adamantly opposed to the financial reforms that Congress put in place.”
Peirce has been an outspoken opponent of both the Dodd-Frank Act and the CFPB, and is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
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