Warren Accuses SEC Chair Atkins of Misleading Congress

Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused SEC Chair Paul Atkins of misleading Congress after fiscal year 2025 enforcement data released April 7 showed the agency initiated fewer enforcement actions than at any point in the last decade and that activity fell to its lowest level in more than 20 years.

In a letter to Atkins dated Wednesday, Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said his testimony to the committee on Feb. 12 — when he told lawmakers he was “not sure what data” Warren was referencing — is contradicted by the agency’s published statistics.

The letter asked whether Atkins was aware of enforcement trends at the time of his testimony and requested a detailed explanation for the decline in enforcement actions. Warren gave Atkins until April 28 to respond.

Warren described the reduction in enforcement as “deeply disturbing” and wrote that the SEC had “largely abdicated its enforcement responsibilities.” The letter also said Atkins’s answers at the hearing were “deeply troubling and raise concerns that you may have been deliberately trying to mislead the Committee about the state of SEC enforcement.”

The decline in enforcement drew attention amid criticism of the agency’s handling of cryptocurrency cases. The SEC reduced enforcement actions against crypto firms under the previous administration, and some cases filed during the current administration have been settled or dismissed.

Warren noted the Feb. 12 hearing took place more than four months after the end of fiscal 2025 and said Atkins had an opportunity at the hearing to correct the record; his earlier deflection now “appear deeply misleading,” the letter said.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Warren’s letter and the agency’s FY2025 enforcement report are likely to be reviewed in upcoming committee oversight and possible follow-up inquiries into the SEC’s enforcement priorities and resource allocation.

The senator’s correspondence creates a formal record challenging Atkins’s testimony and seeks answers about internal awareness and decision-making that led to the reported decline in enforcement actions initiated during fiscal 2025.