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CFTC Office of the Chief Economist Act of 2026
To create an Office of the Chief Economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Summary
This bill establishes an Office of the Chief Economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to serve as economic advisor to the Commission and conduct economic analysis, regulatory cost-benefit analysis, and research. The CFTC is authorized to appoint professional staff to the office, including economists, research analysts, data specialists, and experts in futures, swaps, commodities markets, or financial regulation, using streamlined hiring procedures that do not require competitive service rules. The bill requires the CFTC to coordinate with the Office of the Chief Economist when performing certain functions and adds market liquidity as a factor for CFTC consideration in its oversight activities.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Robert P. Bresnahan’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $255,976
- INVESTMENTS LIMITED $21,106
- STARKEY HEARING TECHNOLOGIES $13,200
- TFP LIMITED $11,022
- ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Robert P. Bresnahan → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Mar 20, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development. · house
- Feb 11, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. · house
- Feb 11, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2026
Mr. Bresnahan (for himself and Mrs. McClain Delaney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To create an Office of the Chief Economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “CFTC Office of the Chief Economist Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST.
(a) In General.—Section 2(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 2(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(16) Office of the chief economist.—
“(A) Establishment.—There is established in the Commission the Office of the Chief Economist.
“(B) Head.—The Office of the Chief Economist shall be headed by the Chief Economist.
“(C) Functions.—The Chief Economist shall serve as economic advisor to the Commission and perform functions such as economic analysis, regulatory cost- benefit analysis, and research.
“(D) Professional staff.—
“(i) Appointment authority.—The Commission may appoint an individual to a position described in clause (ii)—
“(I) in accordance with the statutes, rules, and regulations governing appointments to positions in the excepted service (as defined in section 2103 of title 5, United States Code); and
“(II) without regard to any statute, rule, or regulation governing appointments to positions in the competitive service (as defined in section 2102 of such title).
“(ii) Position described.—A position referred to in clause (i) is a position at the Commission that—
“(I) serves the Office of the Chief Economist;
“(II) is in the competitive service (as defined in section 2102 of such title); and
“(III)(aa) is an economist, research analyst, or data specialist; or “(bb) requires specialized knowledge of futures, swaps, or commodities markets, financial and capital market formation or regulation, financial market structures or surveillance, data collection or analysis, or information technology.
“(iii) Rule of construction.—The appointment of a candidate to a position under authority of this subsection shall not be considered to cause such position to be converted from the competitive service to the excepted service.”.
(b) Conforming Amendment.—Section 15(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 19(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting “, after coordinating with the Office of the Chief Economist,” before “shall”;
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking “futures markets” and inserting “markets under the jurisdiction of the Commission”;
(3) in paragraph (2), by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and (F); and
(4) in paragraph (2), by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
“(D) considerations of market liquidity;”. <all>
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