Bill introduced to remove SEC chair, but authority questioned.

Members of the United States House of Representatives are trying to find ways to remove Gary Gensler, the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), from his position. However, the legality of doing so may be more complicated than simply passing a single piece of legislation.

On June 12th, Warren Davidson, a representative from Ohio, introduced the SEC Stabilization Act, which was intended to remove Gensler from his position. Gensler has been the head of the commission since he was sworn into office in April 2021, and his term is expected to end in 2026.

While Davidson has made serious allegations against Gensler for misconduct and abuse of power, removing an independent agency official who has been nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate is not an easy matter. For example, while U.S. Presidents can ask an SEC commissioner to resign or apply subtle political pressure to do so, it’s possible they do not have the sole authority to fire one.

At least one legal expert has reportedly claimed that forcing an SEC official to leave requires some cause. A 2010 Supreme Court decision ruled that commissioners could not be removed by the President except for certain circumstances, such as “standard of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.”

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Other officials, like cabinet secretaries, serve “at the pleasure of the President” meaning they can be asked to leave at any time. Members of Congress can also expel fellow lawmakers with a two-thirds vote, although this approach is so rare it has happened only 20 times in the entirety of U.S. history.

Gensler has recently incurred the wrath of many in the crypto space, as well as some lawmakers, following the SEC’s filing of separate lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase for allegedly offering unregistered securities. The filings included several tokens that the commission now considers unregistered securities, bringing the SEC’s total to roughly 68 cryptocurrencies.

Related: SEC’s Gensler offered to serve as an adviser to Binance in 2019: Lawyers claim

Davidson proposed the anti-Gensler legislation in April in response to a tweet from Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal. If signed into law, the SEC Stabilization Act could restructure the commission by adding a sixth member (the commission currently has four commissioners and one chair) and shifting certain authority from the chair to the commissioners.

Cointelegraph reached out to the SEC, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

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