SEC Chair Gensler Says He’ll Resign on Inauguration Day

“The Securities and Exchange Commission is a remarkable agency,” Gensler said. “It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve with them on behalf of everyday Americans and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”

Previous chairs have left earlier in the period before a new administration assumes office. But Gensler is not alone in his determination to stay until the last minute. Across the Biden administration’s agencies, appointees and high-ranking bureaucrats are working overtime to turn their agendas into fait accompli before the Trump administration arrives.

Gensler’s release listed the agency’s accomplishments under his leadership. With his arrival in April 2017, the SEC undertook an ambitious program to update and reform the markets for stocks and other securities. A number of those proposals ran into buzzsaws of industry opposition and were never adopted or were stopped by lawsuits.