US Lawmakers Want To Slash Gary Gensler's Salary From Over $300K To Just $1 — Here's Why

A United States lawmaker is seeking to significantly reduce the salary of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler to just $1 per year. 

What Happened: Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) has proposed an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill, which aims to defund the regulator and reduce government spending.

Gensler is estimated to earn over $300,000 annually as the head of the SEC. This has prompted criticism from lawmakers, with a bill introduced to significantly reduce funding for government agencies, including the SEC.

During the introduction of the bill to the House Rules Committee on Monday,  Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) argued that the SEC, along with other government agencies, had become burdened by excessive regulation. Womack proposed defunding the SEC as a means to curtail its regulatory overreach and refocus its efforts on its primary mission.

"Specifically, we turn off rulemakings at the Securities and Exchange Commission that lack proper cost-benefit analysis and aggregate impact analysis."

We are on an unsustainable trajectory.

My bill reins in wasteful Washington spending to address our dire fiscal situation. https://t.co/lWgyvHknQQ

— Rep. Steve Womack (@rep_stevewomack) November 6, 2023

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Why It Matters: This isn’t the first time Gensler faced criticism from U.S. politicians.

In August, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) took a swipe at SEC Chairman Gensler, criticizing his actions against the cryptocurrency industry as “arbitrary and capricious.”  Davidson used the hashtag #FireGaryGensler to express his dissent. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin BTC/USD was trading at $34,876, down 0.09% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo Created with an image from Shutterstock and Third Way Think Tank on Flickr

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