In brief
- Elizabeth Warren accused Paul Atkins of potentially misleading Congress about the SEC’s falling enforcement activity.
- New data showed the SEC brought far fewer cases under the Trump administration than historical averages.
- Warren says the decline raises concerns about investor protection and political favoritism.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the highest-ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, formally accused the head of the SEC this week of potentially lying to Congress—an illegal act punishable with imprisonment.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Warren told SEC Chair Paul Atkins she believes the regulator may have intentionally misled the Banking Committee during a February 12 hearing, when Atkins was pressed about the SEC’s plummeting number of new enforcement actions under the second Trump administration.
Atkins responded to Warren’s question at the time by saying he disagreed “with the premise” of her inquiry. When Warren followed up on the matter at a later point in the hearing, Atkins said he wasn’t sure what data the senator was referencing.
Last week, however, the SEC released its enforcement data for 2025, which showed the regulator only brought 456 new enforcement actions last year—200 of which were filed by the outgoing Biden administration. The 256 cases brought by the Trump SEC pale in comparison to the 765 enforcement actions brought on average by the SEC every year over the last decade.
“The data showing a sharp decline in enforcement actions under your watch, significant reduction in staff and the sudden leadership changes all raise serious questions about the Commission’s willingness and capacity to protect investors and the markets,” Warren said.
The SEC declined comment when reached by Decrypt.
The crime of making a materially false statement to a congressional committee is punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison. Such a charge would need to be brought by the Department of Justice, however, and it is very unlikely the Trump DOJ would pursue such a case against a member of the Trump administration.
Should Democrats retake Congress in November’s midterms, however, Warren could end up well-positioned to make Atkins’ life much more difficult in the medium-term. The crypto-skeptical lawmaker is likely to become the next chair of the Banking Committee should Democrats win back the Senate, an outcome currently standing at 55% odds on Polymarket.
The SEC’s enforcement statistics are currently a hot-button issue for Democrats, given how they play into a larger narrative about the Trump administration’s appetite to pursue potential bad actors in financial markets—even those who may have ties to the president’s family and inner circle.
The SEC under Trump has proudly touted its decrease in enforcement actions, tying the trend to a de-emphasis on crypto cases. Atkins has repeatedly argued the Biden-era SEC overzealously pursued cases against companies in the novel sector, a trend he has aggressively reversed.
But the SEC’s enforcement rates have also dwindled across other sectors, including the traditional securities market. Further, the regulator has come under scrutiny for its treatment of entrepreneurs in the Trump family’s orbit. In Wednesday's letter, Warren referenced a Reuters report detailing how the SEC’s head of enforcement resigned last month in part due to frustrations over the agency’s handling of fraud cases touching on President Trump’s inner circle.
Atkins personally resisted pushes to pursue such cases, according to the report.