Senate confirms Trump’s SEC pick

The Senate cleared President Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday evening, voting 61-37 to confirm Jay Clayton.

A simple majority was needed to approve the nominee, whose term will expire in 2021.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) praised Clayton ahead of the vote, saying he looked forward to “his leadership at this agency.” 

“I appreciate Mr. Clayton’s willingness to take on this important task, as well as his vision — which he outlined at his hearing — to promote fair and transparent practices at the SEC,” he said on the Senate floor Tuesday. 

{mosads}Clayton was expected to get some Democratic support after Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) helped his nomination get over a procedural hurdle on Monday evening. 

Heitkamp, Manchin, McCaskill, Nelson and Tester are each up for reelection in states that supported Trump in November.

But other Democrats voiced concerns that Clayton is too close to the industry he will help regulate as SEC chairman. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued that under Clayton’s leadership, the SEC won’t be able to be the “cop on the beat for Wall Street.” 

“I don’t have any faith that Mr. Clayton will be the kind of tough, independent leader that we need at the SEC. His nomination is just one more broken promise, one more time that Donald Trump has put Wall Street ahead of the interests of the American people,” the frequent Trump critic said. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) added that Clayton “comes from Wall Street … is part of Wall Street [and] we know will protect Wall Street at the SEC.” 

Clayton, a former partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, has spent more than 20 years working for Wall Street companies on mergers, acquisitions and federal regulatory compliance.

But Democrats don’t have the ability to block Trump’s nominees on their own. Republicans have a 52-seat majority, and Clayton has proven less controversial than some of the president’s picks.