Published:Nov 13, 2026, 12:50 PM EST

Trump Nominates CFTC Commissioners as Prediction Market Fights Grow

President Donald Trump has nominated two people to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has had four of its five seats empty for more than a year. Chairman Michael Selig has handled the agency’s prediction market actions alone, from new rules to lawsuits against states.

WRITTEN BY

Luci Kelemen

Published: Nov 13, 2026, 12:50 PM EST

Trump Nominates CFTC Commissioners as Prediction Market Fights Grow

Key Takeaways

Trump nominated Republican Nathan Anonick and Democrat Matthew Rowland to the CFTC on Nov. 12.
Selig has been the CFTC’s only commissioner since December 2025, and has led its prediction market push alone.
No confirmation hearing is scheduled yet, and Republicans are set to lose Senate control in January.

Two Nominees for a One-Member Commission

The White House sent the nominations to the Senate on Thursday, Nov. 12. Nathan Anonick, of Virginia, was nominated for a term expiring June 19, 2031, replacing former Chairman Rostin Behnam. Matthew Rowland, of the District of Columbia, was nominated for the remainder of a term expiring April 13, 2028, in the seat formerly held by Summer Mersinger. The same list included two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees, Steven Levine and Kristin Johnson, the latter a former CFTC commissioner.

Anonick, a Republican, is counsel to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman. He joined the committee in 2022 “to manage a portfolio that includes cryptocurrencies, futures markets and derivatives,” according to a 2023 committee announcement. He previously worked at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Rowland, a Democrat, has worked at the CFTC since 2015, including as an enforcement attorney, and served on the committee’s Democratic staff in 2023 and 2024, NEXTPredict reported, citing his LinkedIn profile and Senate records. Neither nominee appears to have spoken publicly about prediction markets.

“[Trump] made two strong bipartisan picks for CFTC Commissioners with Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland,” Selig said on X. “I congratulate them on their nominations and look forward to working with each of them upon their confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”

Selig Has Steered Prediction Market Policy Alone

The CFTC is designed to have five commissioners. Selig was sworn in on Dec. 22, 2025, replacing Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who had been the sole commissioner since September 2025. Under the Commodity Exchange Act, vacancies do not stop the remaining commissioners from exercising the agency’s powers.

Since then, the agency has withdrawn a Biden-era proposal to ban some political and sports event contracts, proposed prediction market rules in June, and in October proposed classifying sports and other event contracts as swaps. It also has sued several states, including New York and Utah, over their efforts to apply gambling laws to federally regulated exchanges, and on Nov. 5 told exchanges to drop state geoblocks within 30 days or explain why they can’t.

Those moves have drawn criticism. Asked at an April House hearing not to finalize rules while serving alone, Selig said, “I cannot, unfortunately, commit to not do my job that I was appointed to do by the president,” Politico reported.

The Confirmation Clock Is Ticking

The nominations were referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee, which had not scheduled a hearing as of Friday. The Senate Banking Committee has set a Nov. 19 hearing for the two SEC nominees. Republicans are set to lose control of the Senate in January after last week’s midterm elections, and nominations that are not confirmed before a session ends can be returned to the president under Senate rules.

The nominations are against a backdrop of states stepping up their fight against prediction markets. On Thursday, a Louisiana judge ordered Kalshi, Polymarket U.S. and others to stop offering event contracts in the state without a license and to geofence it—a requirement that runs against the CFTC’s Nov. 5 guidance. Earlier this week, a federal judge in Manhattan wrote that the commission’s emergency order shielding Kalshi “smacks of a collusive effort” between the regulator and the company.