Overview
- Rep. Maxine Waters sent a Dec. 29 letter pressing Committee Chair French Hill to schedule an oversight hearing with SEC Chair Paul Atkins as soon as possible.
- Her request cites terminated or stayed actions involving Coinbase, Binance and Justin Sun, with reports noting Kraken and Ripple matters are also in question.
- Waters alleges some defendants announced case outcomes before commission votes and says Atkins’ office took an unusually active role in negotiating case ends.
- She criticizes the SEC’s reliance on staff statements instead of formal rulemaking, raising Administrative Procedure Act concerns and questions about agency independence.
- The committee has not announced a hearing date and the SEC gave no immediate comment, as Waters seeks documents and public testimony on enforcement and policy shifts.