Senate Banking Committee reports four administration nominees to full Senate

At an executive session of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, members voted to report favorably four administration nominees to the full Senate: Paul Atkins for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jonathan Gould for comptroller of the currency, Luke Pettit for assistant secretary of the treasury for financial institutions, and Marcus Molinaro for administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.

The committee chair opened the session by urging quick confirmation, saying the panel "has the opportunity to confirm 4 remarkable individuals who have the experience leadership and commitment needed to restore economic growth and financial stability and to keep the trains running on time." The chair listed the nominees and their expected roles, saying Mr. Atkins would "promote capital formation and provide much needed clarity for digital assets," and that the other nominees bring experience to their respective agencies.

The panel's ranking member sharply disagreed with the praise and opposed moving the nominations forward. The ranking member criticized the administration and its backers, asking: "My litmus test for the panel before us today and any executive branch nominee is will they enforce the law and uphold our constitution? Or will they just simply bend a knee to the orders of co presidents Trump and Musk?" The ranking member also cited prior agency records and private-sector work as reasons for opposition, saying, without endorsing remedies, that some nominees' track records were "bad, really bad." The ranking member said he would not vote to confirm while, in his view, administration actions were undermining agency capacity.

Votes at a glance

- Paul Atkins, nominated for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission: reported favorably to the full Senate, roll-call tally 13 in favor, 11 opposed. The committee ordered the nomination "reported favorably to the full Senate."

- Jonathan Gould, nominated for comptroller of the currency: reported favorably to the full Senate, roll-call tally 13 in favor, 11 opposed.

- Luke Pettit, nominated for assistant secretary of the treasury for financial institutions: reported favorably to the full Senate, roll-call tally 19 in favor, 5 opposed.

- Marcus Molinaro, nominated for administrator of the Federal Transit Administration: reported favorably to the full Senate, roll-call tally 20 in favor, 4 opposed.

Each nomination was moved to a roll-call vote and, after the committee clerk announced the tallies, the committee "ordered [the nominations] reported favorably to the full Senate." Several senators cast votes by proxy during the roll calls; the clerk's announcements recorded overall tallies but did not enumerate every proxy vote in the transcript excerpt.

The executive session concluded after members were offered the chance to make statements; none were made and the chair adjourned the session.