President-elect Donald Trump continued building out his administration on Wednesday announcing a flurry of picks, including the selection of former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins to head the agency.
Mr. Trump also announced that he had appointed Peter Navarro, a key adviser during the first Trump administration, as senior counsel for trade and manufacturing. He also said that he would name David Warrington as White House counsel, moving his previously announced choice for the position to a different job.
Other picks include Daniel Driscoll as Army secretary, Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator, Monica Crowley for a top State Department post, former Rep. Billy Long of Missouri as IRS commissioner, and Adam Boehner as special president envoy for hostage affairs.
The move to put Mr. Atkins at the head of the SEC signals Mr. Trump’s desire for a crypto-friendly administration.
The nomination of Mr. Atkins signals Mr. Trump’s intent to keep his campaign promise of being an administration more friendly to cryptocurrencies than those in the past.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations. He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of investors & that provide capital to make our economy the best in the world,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “He also recognizes that digital assets & other invocations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
By choosing Mr. Atkins, a Republican ex-commissioner, Mr. Trump is naming one of the most influential GOP financial regulators to oversee Wall Street. He will replace outgoing Chair Gary Gensler, who was heavily criticized for his efforts to clamp down on digital currencies.
Mr. Atkins served as SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008 in President George W. Bush’s administration.
Mr. Navarro, 75, served as a top trade aide during Mr. Trump’s first term and is a Harvard-educated economist who has written more than a dozen books on strategic management and unfair trade practices.
“During my first term, few were more effective or tenacious than Peter in enforcing my two sacred rules, buy American, Hire American. He helped me renegotiate unfair trade deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and moved every one of my Tariff and Trade actions FAST,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.
The appointment comes less than five months after Mr. Navarro was released from a federal prison in Miami. He served a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The selection of Mr. Warrington to serve as White House counsel raised some eyebrows. Roughly three weeks ago, Mr. Trump had tapped his campaign lawyer Bill McGinley to serve as White House counsel.
In a statement, Mr. Trump said he was moving Mr. McGinley to serve as counsel for the Department of Government Efficiency, his administration’s planned quasi-public body aimed at reducing government expenses.
Mr. Trump didn’t explain the switch other than to say that Mr. McGinley was “very passionate” about the work of the DOGE, which will be led by billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Bill is a great addition to a stellar team that is focused on making life better for all Americans,” Mr. Trump said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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