McHenry, Huizenga Call for Hearing with All SEC Commissioners Following Insufficient Answers from Gensler

Cmte Financial Services (R)
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McHenry, Huizenga Call for Hearing with All SEC Commissioners Following Insufficient Answers from Gensler

Following Tuesday’s Financial Services Committee hearing with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, Republican Committee leaders are calling for an in-person hearing with the full Commission no later than next Spring. In a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Republican Leader Patrick McHenry (NC-10) and Republican Leader of the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets Subcommittee, Bill Huizenga (MI-02), note that the hearing with Chair Gensler was not sufficient to fully understand the Commission’s ongoing deliberations. A hearing with all five Commissioners will allow for a balanced and thoughtful look at future rulemakings expected over the next several months.

Thank you for scheduling Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gensler to testify before the Committee yesterday. Republican Members appreciated the opportunity to question Chair Gensler on his various confusing statements about cryptocurrency and his unilateral effort to politicize the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, among other things.

This hearing, however, was not sufficient to fully understand the Commission’s ongoing deliberations, particularly as it relates with respect to upcoming rulemakings. Notably, at his appearance before our Committee, Chair Gensler repeatedly avoided providing detailed responses regarding future Commission action and upcoming rulemakings.

The timing of our Committee’s hearing with the Chair was ill-suited to conducting proper oversight. Only one Commission open meeting proposing any rulemaking has been held to date, and most the most noteworthy rulemakings on Chair Gensler’s agenda have yet to be proposed. Our Committee cannot simply hold one hearing, with one witness, and consider our work done for the year with regard to SEC oversight, especially given that there will be a “very active period between now and next spring,” according to the Chair.

We respectfully request that you schedule a hearing with the full Commission in person no later than April 2022. Consistent with Committee precedent that you established last Congress, a hearing with the full Commission would allow for a balanced and thoughtful look at newly proposed rulemakings. It would also allow our Committee to ask other Commissioners their insights regarding their votes, statements, recusal determinations, and other writings.