Trump is considering Robinhood’s Dan Gallagher as SEC Head Gary Gensler’s replacement: report

Sources claim the Trump team is considering Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher as a replacement for SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. However, it is possible for Gensler to remain in office unless he resigns.

According to a Nov. 7 report from Reuters, multiple insider sources say Trump’s transition team is considering pro-crypto lawyer Dan Gallagher for the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman position, replacing Gary Gensler.

Gallagher previously served as a Republican SEC commissioner from 2011 to 2015. He is currently chief legal and compliance officer for retail brokerage Robinhood. It is a popular choice among crypto managers as it advocates classifying cryptocurrencies as a separate asset class rather than securities.

During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to fire Gensler on his first day as president. Gensler is known for his hostile stance towards the crypto industry, claiming that the sector is full of speculators.

The SEC also sued several crypto companies and executives; These were ongoing lawsuits involving Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple, to name a few.

In response to rumors about the agency’s new head, Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Reuters that Trump will soon decide who will serve in the new administration.

“Those decisions will be announced when they are made,” Leavitt said.

But before the presidential election, 28-year-old Gary Gensler said he intends to stay at the SEC and continue his work until “the referee blows the whistle.” Gensler’s term begins in 2021 under the Biden administration and ends in 2026.

Historically, previous SEC chairmen resigned from their positions whenever there was a change in White House administration. Therefore, it is possible that Gensler will resign voluntarily when the Republican administration takes over the White House.

However, it is important to note that U.S. Presidents themselves cannot remove an executive agency commissioner without cause; This is a rule put in place in the 1930s to prevent then-President Franklin Roosevelt from making changes to the Federal Trade Commission.

The same goes for other establishment figures, such as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump threatened to fire Powell multiple times throughout his first term.

But CNN reported that a senior adviser to Trump acknowledged that Powell may well remain in office for the remainder of his term, which ends in May 2026. In July, Trump told Bloomberg he would keep Powell as Fed chairman until the end. term of office.

Asked if he would lose his job in the transition to the Trump administration, Powell simply answered no. He claimed that Trump did not have the legal authority to fire him.

“This is not allowed under the law,” Powell said.

Powell was appointed as Federal Reserve Chairman by Trump in 2018. He previously served on the central bank’s board of directors and as a private equity executive.