Rep. Maxine Waters, the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, has announced that she will prevent a joint hearing between her committee and the House Agriculture Committee on a newly proposed market structure bill. The hearing, scheduled for Monday, was intended to discuss the oversight of cryptocurrency by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. However, under House rules, all parties involved must agree to proceed with a joint hearing, and Waters has expressed her objection.
Her decision comes after President Trump's recent engagement with cryptocurrency, which has raised concerns among Democrats. Waters has been vocal about Trump's alleged crypto crimes and has urged Republicans to investigate these claims. In a statement, Waters emphasized the need to prevent Trump and his family from profiting from cryptocurrency at the expense of American families. The hearing was set to feature several expert witnesses, including Chastity Murphy, Timothy Massad, Mark Hayes, and Jeff Hauser.
Instead, Waters and other Democrats on the Financial Services Committee plan to hold their own hearing to investigate Trump's ties to cryptocurrency, including his connection to World Liberty Financial. A spokesperson for Chairman French Hill encouraged Waters to attend the hearing and reconsider her decision to object.