PANews reported on November 13 that according to Cointelegraph, US President-elect Donald Trump hinted that he would bypass the Senate's confirmation process to appoint members of his government, which also seemed to include replacing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler. In an X post on November 10, Trump said that only he had the right to choose which US senator would serve as Senate Majority Leader starting when the new Congress is sworn in in January 2025. The Republican said he hoped that potential majority leaders would agree to make appointments during the recess to bypass the confirmation process and allow people to take up important positions "immediately" instead of going through questioning and scrutiny by lawmakers.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the president "has power, by granting commissions, to fill all Vacancies which may occur during the Recess of the Senate, which shall expire at the close of their next session." During Trump's first term, that power enabled him to appoint people who might not otherwise have been approved by the Senate. Recess appointments are supposed to be temporary and not a substitute for Senate approval. Trump has not publicly nominated any potential replacements for Gensler.
During the campaign, Trump promised the cryptocurrency industry that he would fire SEC Chairman Gensler on "Day 1" if he was re-elected, but experts say he can't remove Gensler from the commission without good cause. In some cases, regulators have resigned when the White House party changes, but Gensler has not indicated that he will leave.
