DEMS/SEC/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has failed to advance Democratic nominees to three key financial regulatory agencies for months, breaking yet another Washington tradition and sparing Wall Street companies from enforcement penalties. Slots at the SEC, the FDIC and the National Credit Union Administration have gone unfilled because the White House has not nominated Democrats to take them, giving Republicans a bigger voting edge on regulation and enforcement matters at the three agencies. The lack of a Democrat is most pronounced at the SEC. The two Republican commissioners are in a position to block millions of dollars in enforcement penalties that the agency wants to assess on companies and individuals charged with misbehavior…A seat reserved for a Democrat at the five-member SEC is now vacant, and Senate Democrats quietly recommended Allison Lee, a former SEC aide and ally of liberal-leaning investor advocacy organizations. Yet Lee’s name has languished at the White House, even though the Democrats submitted her paperwork months ago, according to people familiar with the matter.”
–Patrick Temple-West, “Trump’s failure to name Democrats to agencies stalls enforcement,” Politico, January 18, 2019 3:03 pm