Senate Agr faces DCIA markup as Klobuchar seeks CFTC quorum!

Among the provisions under consideration are at least 11 amendments that were publicly posted; examples include proposals to ban lawmakers and White House officials from industry engagement, require companies to compete on credit card swipe fees, and address foreign interference in U.S. markets, according to the publicly available amendments. These measures reflect varied concerns about market fairness, ethics and national security.

Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced a high-profile amendment in response to vacancies at the federal regulator that would block the law’s effect until the CFTC had at least four confirmed commissioners. Klobuchar’s text would delay enactment "until at least four commissioners" are in place, a move tied to departures at the agency in 2025.

The agency now expects to have five commissioners, one serving as chair, but currently only Chair Michael Selig remains after the resignation of acting chair Caroline Pham in December. That staffing gap has driven calls for a pause before implementing a new market structure framework.

The DCIA’s most recent draft aims to define roles for the SEC and CFTC, but lawmakers and industry leaders have raised concerns about items such as stablecoin rewards, tokenized equities, decentralized finance and ethics. It remains unclear which amendments will pass in the Agriculture Committee or how lawmakers will reconcile changes with the delayed Banking Committee markup.