Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Caroline Pham, the Republican commissioner who just took the reins of the agency as President Donald Trump returns to the White House, has brought out many of the agency’s top officials under her predecessor Rostin Behnam, the Democrat who had been appointed by Joe. Biden.
The personnel changes – with each departure being replaced by interim officials appointed by Pham – will have implications for cryptocurrency oversight for the US derivatives regulator, which is poised to take a bigger role in the area.
Notably, Harry Jung, who joined the CFTC in 2023 as Pham’s senior policy advisor, will lead the agency’s engagement with the crypto industry. He was tapped for a senior role as the CFTC’s new acting chief of staff.
Pham announced the departure of a long list of senior officials, including the agency’s general council and the heads of its enforcement, public affairs, clearing and risk, market and stakeholder surveillance divisions of the market. Also absent is the head of the Office of International Affairs and the department that oversees legislative affairs — a key area for the agency since Congress will work on a crypto bill that could give the CFTC a leading role.
“I am pleased to announce changes at the helm of the CFTC with the start of the new administration,” Pham said in a statement. “I am grateful for their many decades of dedicated service to the CFTC, and I appreciate our talented CFTC staff who will assume these roles on an interim basis.”
Removed from the ranks of his commissioner’s office staff are Meghan Tente, Taylor Foy and Jung, the new acting general counsel – the agency’s top legal official – and Pham’s chief of staff and director of public affairs. respectively. Nicholas Elliot, who previously advised her on policy, will lead the legislative office.
The acting enforcement director will be Briang Young, a former Justice Department veteran who took over last year as the CFTC’s whistleblower chief.
