KEY TAKEAWAYS
- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated two new members for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), pitching a Republican and a Democrat.
- CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is the only current member of the commission, which is comprised of five seats.
- The move by Trump comes less than two months before Democrats take control of the Senate, giving Republicans the chance to fill vacancies during the lame-duck session.
Those wondering how last week’s so-called “blue wave” election might affect prediction markets operators received their first clue Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump moved to fill long-standing Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) vacancies.
Trump nominated a pair of staffers from the Senate Agriculture Committee to fill two of the four seats that sat empty for nearly a year alongside Chairman Michael Selig, the only member of the commission in 2026.
That left rulemaking and legal decisions around prediction markets largely in Selig’s hands, which he used to support the prediction markets industry at nearly every opportunity. Selig replaced interim CFTC head Caroline Pham, who went on to join a crypto-based fintech company following her departure from the federal government.
Trump’s new CFTC nominees are:
- Nathan Anonick, a Republican and counsel for Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) on crypto and derivatives, to a term ending in 2031
- Matt Rowland, a Democrat and CFTC staff attorney since 2015, for a term ending in 2028
Why did Trump nominate new CFTC members now?
After allowing the five-member body to operate with Selig as the long appointee since December 2025, Trump acted nine days after Democrats gained control of the House and Senate. That change does not happen until January 2027, however, meaning the current lame-duck Senate helmed by Republicans likely will settle the nominations of Anonick and Rowland.
By nominating new CFTC members while Republicans control the confirmation process, Trump ensures the friendliest possible reception to his choices. By nominating a Democrat alongside a Republican, the president likely seeks to entice votes from Democrats not just for his CFTC nominees, but also for his two bipartisan nominees to bolster the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from two to four members.
The short lame-duck session provides little time for Republicans to confirm either of the CFTC nominees, though, meaning Anonick and Rowland’s appointments are not certainties.
While his endorsement carries no actual weight in the confirmation process, Selig backed both nominees Thursday:
What do CFTC nominations mean for prediction markets?
If both nominations receive approval, Republicans would maintain voting control at the CFTC by a 2-1 margin. Facing a hostile Senate with as many as 56 Democrats, Trump likely would not attempt to push through nominees for the remaining two empty seats.
Even though the voting majority still favors Republicans and thereby the prediction markets industry as well, the salad days of full CFTC backing could already be over for Kalshi, Polymarket and their competitors. The nomination of Rowland puts a career CFTC counsel into a position to dissent at a volume not heard by the industry since the Biden administration’s polar-opposite to the current approach in 2024.
Rowland spent nearly five years working in the commission’s enforcement division, spanning the final days of the Obama administration into Trump’s first term. Even by placing Anonick alongside Selig in the GOP camp, Trump endangers Selig’s majority of one voice backing prediction markets and crypto.
Also on Thursday, Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, separated from his advisory role at Kalshi. The company pointed to Trump Jr.’s investment in Polymarket earlier this year, although he remained with Kalshi for months following that transaction.
