Crypto-friendly Patrick McHenry takes interim House Speaker position

United States Representative and crypto-friendly lawmaker Patrick McHenry has been appointed as interim House Speaker after the high-profile ousting of U.S. House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy’s ousting came after a 216-210 vote by Congress, with eight of the 216 votes coming from McCarthy’s fellow Republicans, marking the first time a House Speaker has been removed in U.S. history, according to Reuters.

The vote was prompted by a motion from one of McCarthy’s political rivals, Matt Gaetz, who called into question several contradictory promises made by McCarthy.

Though temporary, McHenry’s appointment could be seen as a small win for the digital asset sector. The Speaker sets the House’s legislative agenda, controls committee assignments, and schedules specific bills to be debated and voted upon in the chamber.

House Speaker is considered the most influential position in the U.S. government behind the President and Vice President.

Meanwhile, McHenry is regarded as one of the biggest challengers to the Securities Exchange Commission’s regulation by enforcement-style approach to the cryptocurrency sector.

McHenry also grilled SEC Chair Gary Gensler in his testimony before Congress last week, suggesting he’s attempting to “choke off the digital asset ecosystem.” McHenry also called Gensler out for refusing to be transparent with Congress about the SEC’s connections with FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.

SEC Chair @GaryGensler refuses to schedule a Commission vote to provide Congress with requested documents.

Should Gensler continue to stonewall, Republicans will have no choice but to issue the first subpoena to the SEC from my Committee to compel their production. https://t.co/Aw5U0aJ0Tt

— Patrick McHenry (@PatrickMcHenry) October 2, 2023

McHenry also released the discussion draft “Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal” on June 1, which purports to provide clarity, fill regulatory gaps, and foster innovation in the cryptocurrency space, a paper that was praised by some industry leaders.

However, McHenry’s tenure as House Speaker may be short-lived, with an official vote on a new House Speaker set for Oct. 11, according to Bloomberg.

A Reuters report speculates that along with McHenry, there is a possibility that pro-crypto Representative Tom Emmer or even Donald Trump could be a possible replacement for McCarthy, though none have publicly expressed interest in taking the position.

50-50 we get a crypto champion as Speaker now, with Whip Emmer and Speaker pro tempore McHenry in the running. Wild day.

(Speaker of the House is third in power behind President and VP for the non-US followers out there.) https://t.co/2ow5li2lnw

— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) October 3, 2023