The Commodity Futures Trading Commission could add two commissioners after President Donald Trump nominated Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland on Thursday, though the Republican-led Senate has only weeks left to confirm them.
Anonick, a Republican, is legislative counsel to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman. Rowland, a Democrat, is a CFTC attorney on detail to the same committee. If confirmed, they would join Chairman Mike Selig, who has run the commission overseeing prediction markets alone.
“@POTUS made two strong bipartisan picks for @CFTC Commissioners with Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland,” Selig wrote on X. “I congratulate them on their nominations and look forward to working with each of them upon their confirmation by the US Senate.”
Lame-duck Senate faces tight window
The White House sent the nominations to the Senate on Thursday, nine days after Democrats won control of the chamber after the midterm elections last week. The win ends two years of unified Republican control, and the new majority takes over in January.
Republicans have weeks to confirm the nominations. If not, the nominations are returned to Trump, who would have to resubmit them to a Democratic Senate.
The Senate Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the CFTC nominees. Both nominees work for that committee, which could help them move quickly.
Who are the CFTC nominees?
Anonick was nominated to a term expiring June 19, 2031, filling the seat formerly held by former Chairman Rostin Behnam. He helped lead negotiations on the Agriculture Committee’s portion of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the crypto market structure bill.
Rowland would serve the remainder of former Commissioner Summer Mersinger’s term, which runs through April 13, 2028. He has been a CFTC staff attorney since 2015 and spent nearly five years in the agency’s enforcement division. He also worked on the Clarity Act and the committee’s 2024 crypto bill.
Trump also nominated two members to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Former CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson, a Democrat, would replace Caroline Crenshaw, while Steven Levine, a Republican, would succeed Hester Peirce.
Inheriting prediction markets fight
Selig has been the CFTC’s lone commissioner since December 2025. The commission is designed to be bipartisan, as the Commodity Exchange Act caps any one party at three of its five seats.
If confirmed, Anonick and Rowland would have a vote on how the agency handles prediction markets, which have become one of the most contested issues in gaming regulation across the country.
Prediction markets began offering sports event contracts in early 2025, just weeks after Trump started his second term. Since then, Kalshi has been entangled in legal battles in about a dozen states, and operators including Polymarket have faced their own state challenges.
Most recently, a Louisiana judge granted the state a temporary restraining order against 31 prediction market entities on Thursday. Kalshi holds a favorable ruling in the Third Circuit but lost in the Ninth Circuit, a split that could send the fight to the Supreme Court. Rowland’s enforcement experience could also come into play as the CFTC weighs in on those legal fights.
Under Selig, the CFTC has taken the position that it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets, which it argues preempts state law. A full commission would mean that stance no longer rests on one vote, though Republicans would still hold a two to one majority if both nominees are confirmed.
