From Reuters…

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency tasked with policing and writing rules for Wall Street.

In a 61-37 vote, the Senate approved the nomination, with some moderate Democrats joining their Republican colleagues in supporting his confirmation.

Clayton could be officially sworn in as SEC chairman as soon as Thursday.

The White House still must complete some paperwork, including an action by President Trump to formally designate him as SEC chairman.

So… let’s start with what the SEC is and does…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government. It holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws, proposing securities rules, and regulating the securities industry, the nation’s stock and options exchanges, and other activities and organizations, including the electronic securities markets in the United States.^[2]

So why is Jay Clayton a bad pick? For the same reason all of Agent Orange’s other nominations were bad…

(Quote from Reuters)

Clayton is a longtime partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell who specializes in advising clients on public and private mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising efforts.

Clayton worked on the initial public offering of Alibaba Group Holding Company, and has also represented Goldman Sachs, where his wife Gretchen works.

She is now expected to step down from her post, a move that will make it easier for her husband to mitigate potential conflicts of interest.

…

“Mr. Clayton’s law firm and former clients will create a steady stream of conflicts for him, forcing him to recuse himself in cases involving former clients for two of the four years he could serve as chair,” said Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.

“He will be sitting on the sidelines of potential enforcement actions against some of the biggest Wall Street banks – Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, and UBS,” he added.

This entire administration is just one giant conflict of interest… including this new guy…