Democrats urged President Trump to head the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday for his previous work at the agency leading up to the 2008 financial crisis and plans for the future of the SEC.
Former SEC committee member Paul Atkins appeared before the Senate Banking Committee and along with several other candidates the president tapped to take on a role in financial regulatory bodies.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), a top Democrat on the panel, served as a committee member from 2002 to 2008, aiming to see Atkins' achievements in the SEC.
“Atkins has a near perfect track record,” Warren said. “He was pretty much wrong in preparing for the biggest financial crash since Great Repression. That's not a record worthy of promotion.”
“Your job was to find the risks that were built in the financial markets and set off, but you made a surprisingly bad judgment,” she added.
Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-Ga.) also expressed concern about Atkins' take-home from the financial crisis, noting that SEC candidates had proposed in previous conversations that false regulations were partially responsible.
“There's a community in Atlanta, especially the communities I know and the people in my church are yet to recover,” Warnock said. “So we have seen a major transfer of wealth as a result of this crisis.”
“The banks have been bailed out. Wall Street has been bailed out, but the consumers have not. And you are asking because you are a candidate for the SEC.
Atkins argued that the SEC at the time was “focusing on the wrong things,” and that it was “distracted by supplementary issues” rather than anything important to the market.
Several Democrats also burned Atkins on their contributions to Project 2025, the second Trump administration's conservative blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation.
Atkins is listed as a contributor and is SEC.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD., asked Atkins Thursday if he would commit to preserving the public company's Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The board was established by Congress in the early 2000s and oversaw audits of public companies.
Atkins tried to downplay his role in Project 2025, highlighting that he only participated in a few calls.
When he pushed to support the abolition of the board, he postponed the SEC nomination to Congress, saying, “It's not my strength. It's up to you.”
“We need to perform the function,” he added. “The functionality is essential whether it's PCAOB or wrapped up in the SEC.”
Atkins also faced questions from Senator Andy Kim (DN.J.) regarding his request to end the Project 2025 integrated audit trail program.
“I promise to see the situation right now, what the plan is, how efficient it is, what the costs will be,” he said. “They inflated a lot from what started, and even their mission has been removed.”
Trump's candidate is expected to be in a significant contrast to Biden-era SEC chairman Gary Gensler, who was widely disliked by Republicans and industry.
“You can just breathe and don't become a totally furious madman, and you'll be the biggest SEC commissioner compared to the last guy,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
Most notably, Atkins is expected to take a much more friendly approach to the crypto community. Senate Bank Speaker Tim Scott (Rs.C.) highlighted: “I guarantee that America's innovation will not be further delayed.
“My Chair's top priority is to work with my fellow commissioners and Congress to provide a solid regulatory foundation for digital assets through a rational, consistent, principled approach,” Atkins said Thursday.
He previously co-chaired the digital chamber's token alliance and was a member of the board of directors of Securitize, a tokenization platform. He has resigned from both roles in recent months, according to financial disclosures released Tuesday.
As part of the ethics agreement, Atkins also plans to step down as CEO of financial services consultancy Patomak Global Partners and sell profits from the company's membership.
Financial records show that he and his wife have a net worth of at least $327 million, according to Bloomberg.
Updated at 3:22pm
