Open commissioner seats at a U.S. markets regulator have complicated an active legislative negotiation. A commissioner is a voting board member at a federal agency, one who can only take a seat after the president nominates them and the Senate votes to confirm. The White House has vetted candidates for those vacant positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, sources told CNBC, but whether those candidates will be appointed is still unclear.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the federal agency that oversees derivatives markets in the United States. Its commissioners vote on the agency's major rules and guide its regulatory priorities. Those unfilled seats have gotten tangled up in negotiations over the Clarity Act, where filling the commissioner positions has become a sticking point. A sticking point is the specific issue that keeps a negotiation from moving forward, and here that issue is unresolved.
The White House has cleared the vetting stage, meaning candidates have been reviewed for confirmation fitness before any formal nomination is made. Sources who spoke to CNBC did not indicate a timeline. No formal nominations have been announced.