The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry has voted to advance Michael Selig’s nomination to be the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – where he would oversee prediction markets.
Having received committee approval, Selig’s nomination is now set for a vote from the full Senate.
“This is a critical moment for the CFTC as Congress considers expanding the agency’s authority,” committee chair Sen. John Boozman said in a statement. “Strong leadership is essential to implement new policies and responsibilities. Michael Selig is the right person to strike that balance. I appreciate his willingness to serve and urge the Senate to swiftly confirm his nomination so the CFTC can benefit from his experience and expertise.”
According to Bloomberg’s Lydia Beyoud, all 12 Republicans on the committee approved Selig’s nomination, while all 11 Democrats voted against.
With Republicans holding 53 Senate seats, as well as the tiebreaking vote of the vice president, a similar party-line vote from the full chamber would ensure Selig’s nomination is approved.
Selig said he would defer to courts
The committee questioned Selig during a hearing Wednesday. Many of the questions concerned topics such as agricultural commodities, cryptocurrency, or the four currently empty commissioner seats at the CFTC. However, prediction markets also came up.
When they did, Selig almost always answered by saying he would look to the courts for guidance, even when it came to questions that were not the subject of ongoing legal debates.
For example, when Sen. Adam Schiff asked Selig whether a bet between the two of them on Thursday’s Buffalo Bills game would be gambling, Selig said, “On this issue, I would look to the courts.”
In past, Selig supportive of sports contracts
Selig currently works at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as chief counsel of the SEC Crypto Task Force. He previously worked as a lawyer for Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where he worked on a July 2024 letter that argued that it was “arbitrary and capricious” to ban sports event contracts, while working as outside counsel for a venture capital fund.
Selig was nominated for the role of CFTC chair after Brian Quintenz’s nomination stalled. Quintenz – a current Kalshi director and shareholder, as well as a former CFTC commissioner — was twice scheduled for a committee vote, but both votes were cancelled.
On the second occasion, a committee spokesperson said the White House had asked for the vote to be pulled. It was later reported that cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and Trump donors the Winklevoss twins — co-founders of Gemini — had lobbied the president against going forward with Quintenz as nominee.
