By Douglas Gillison and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Paul Atkins as President Donald Trump’s choice to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, installing the business-friendly lawyer atop an agency in the throes of major change.
In a largely party line vote, the Senate voted 52-44 to confirm Atkins, who previously served as an SEC member from 2002 to 2008. Trump’s Republican Party holds 53 out of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate.
Atkins, a Washington lawyer with extensive experience and past ties to the crypto industry, arrives at an SEC in tumult.
Its ranks are severely depleted amid historic market volatility and staff members fear further cuts while Trump ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency scrutinizes the agency and interim leadership pursues restructuring under a White House mandate.
Since taking office on January 20, the Trump administration has downsized several federal agencies to cut spending, which has cost more than 200,000 workers their jobs.
In his confirmation testimony last month, Atkins said he would “definitely” work with DOGE in cost-cutting efforts at the agency.
Atkins’ prior voting record suggests he may curtail SEC enforcement and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has sharply criticized what she called Atkins’ poor policy judgments ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
Atkins told the Banking Committee he planned to pursue “appropriately tailored” regulations under a narrower view of the agency’s legal authority.
In financial disclosures, Atkins revealed assets held jointly with his wife of at least $328 million and potentially exceeding $589 million.
Prior to his testimony, Trump’s team had said Atkins was in full compliance with all ethics and disclosure requirements and would cooperate with the SEC’s ethics officer if confirmed.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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