The new Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission is Paul Atkins, who was confirmed by the Senate on April 9, 2025, in a 52–44 vote.1U.S. Congress. PN12-18 – Paul Atkins – Securities and Exchange Commission As Chair, he leads the federal agency that oversees the securities industry and protects investors,2U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. About and he holds powers the other four commissioners don’t: he controls what the agency works on, how it spends roughly $2.15 billion a year, and who staffs it. He still needs a majority of the commission to adopt rules or approve major enforcement settlements.
How Paul Atkins Got the Job
The President nominates the SEC Chair under the Appointments Clause of Article II, Section 2, and the Senate confirms by simple majority after hearings before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.3Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 Atkins went through that process in early 2025.
Because Gary Gensler resigned in January 2025 and Atkins was not yet confirmed, President Trump designated sitting Commissioner Mark Uyeda as Acting Chairman in the interim.4U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mark T. Uyeda Named Acting Chairman of the SEC A President can name any sitting commissioner as Chair without a fresh Senate vote, and that designation lasts until a permanent chair is confirmed. Atkins took over the position when his confirmation cleared in April.
What the SEC Chair Actually Runs
Reorganization Plan No. 10 of 1950 pulled the agency’s executive and administrative functions out of the full commission and handed them to the Chair.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. Appendix – Reorganization Plan No. 10 of 1950 – Section: Transfer of Functions to the Chairman Three areas fall to the Chair alone: hiring and supervising staff, assigning work across divisions, and directing how the budget is spent within program areas.
Agenda Control
The Chair decides what comes to a vote and when. A proposed rule the Chair doesn’t want on the calendar doesn’t reach the calendar. That gatekeeping power is quiet but decisive: a new chair can effectively shelve an outgoing administration’s pending work simply by never scheduling it. The full commission still holds the final vote on regulations and major enforcement settlements, but the Chair chooses which questions get put to that vote.
Budget and Staff
The SEC’s fiscal 2026 budget runs about $2.15 billion, funded through fees on securities transactions rather than tax revenue. The Chair directs how those dollars move within the agency, from enforcement investigations to market surveillance systems. The full commission retains the power to set broad priorities among major program areas, so the Chair cannot unilaterally strip enforcement to fund something else. Within each category, though, allocation is the Chair’s call.
External Roles
The Chair sits as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the 15-member body created by the Dodd-Frank Act to monitor risks across the financial system, alongside the Treasury Secretary, the Federal Reserve Chair, and other financial regulators.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 5321 – Financial Stability Oversight Council Established The Chair also testifies before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee on the agency’s budget and priorities.7U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Testimony Before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee
Where the Chair’s Power Stops
The SEC has five commissioners, all Senate-confirmed. Federal law caps same-party representation at three and directs the President to alternate parties when filling seats “as nearly as may be practicable.”8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 78d – Securities and Exchange Commission Two of the five seats are reserved, in practice, for the opposing party.
Adopting a rule, settling a major case, or issuing a formal policy statement takes a majority vote. A 3–2 split along party lines is routine, and a single commissioner switching sides can block or advance significant policy. As of mid-2026, only three seats are filled: Chairman Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, all Republicans, with two vacancies awaiting nominations.9U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Commissioners Until the Democratic seats are filled, every seated commissioner is aligned with the current majority.
Commissioners serve five-year terms staggered so one expires every June 5, and a commissioner filling a mid-term vacancy inherits only the time left on that seat rather than a fresh five years.9U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Commissioners
Atkins’s Agenda So Far
Atkins has publicly identified digital assets as his top priority, saying the agency needs workable rules for how cryptocurrencies are offered, sold, traded, and held in custody.10U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Statement on the Spring 2025 Regulatory Agenda The broader agenda leans toward deregulation: simpler capital-raising pathways for smaller companies and reduced disclosure requirements the agency considers excessive.
The commission has already withdrawn several rulemaking proposals inherited from the prior administration that Atkins concluded fell outside the agency’s statutory mandate. The Consolidated Audit Trail, a large market-surveillance database that has drawn privacy objections and litigation, is also on the list for reconsideration. How far any of this goes depends partly on who fills the two open seats.
Can the President Fire the SEC Chair?
The Securities Exchange Act is silent on removal. It says nothing about when or why a commissioner can be dismissed.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 78d – Securities and Exchange Commission For decades the working assumption has been that SEC commissioners have the same for-cause protection the Supreme Court recognized for Federal Trade Commission members in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935): removable only for neglect of duty or misconduct, not for policy disagreements.
That assumption is under active challenge. The Supreme Court has taken up cases this term about whether the President can dismiss commissioners of independent agencies at will, and it has already stayed lower-court orders that blocked removals at the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. If Humphrey’s Executor is overturned, the Chair and other SEC commissioners would serve at the President’s pleasure, and the agency’s traditional independence would shrink accordingly.
One background restriction is worth knowing regardless: federal law prohibits any SEC commissioner from participating in stock-market operations or transactions the agency regulates,8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 78d – Securities and Exchange Commission and the SEC’s own supplemental ethics rules bar employees from owning securities in the broker-dealers and investment advisers the agency directly regulates, or buying into IPOs and direct listings until seven days after trading begins.11Securities and Exchange Commission. Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Members and Employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission The Chair operates under some of the tightest personal-finance restrictions in the federal government.