U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (엘리자베스 워런) claimed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins (폴 앳킨스) may have misled Congress over a decline in the agency’s enforcement activity.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on April 19 that Warren said in a letter dated April 16 that there was a significant discrepancy between Atkins’ answers at a Feb. 12 congressional hearing and fiscal 2025 enforcement data the SEC released on April 7.

The central issue is a drop in the number of SEC enforcement cases. Warren said at the hearing, based on data disclosed at the time, that SEC enforcement activity was declining, but Atkins replied that he was not sure what data he was looking at. The official data released later supported Warren’s point. In the letter, Warren said, "My claim that SEC enforcement is declining was correct," adding that "data released last week show the number of enforcement actions initiated by the SEC was the lowest in the past 10 years."

Warren said the figures showed not just a decline but a weakening of the SEC’s oversight function. She described the data as "deeply concerning" and said the SEC appeared to be effectively abandoning its enforcement responsibilities. She also criticised the agency’s overall enforcement activity as having fallen to its lowest level in more than 20 years.

Warren also took issue with Atkins’ hearing answers. She noted the hearing took place more than 4 months after fiscal 2025 ended and said it was "deeply troubling" that Atkins responded as though he did not know the relevant data. She wrote that the response "raises concerns that you may have intentionally misled the committee about the SEC’s enforcement status."

The controversy also comes amid a shift in enforcement policy involving cryptocurrencies. Under the Trump administration, the SEC scaled back enforcement against crypto companies and has been settling or dropping crypto-related lawsuits it brought during the Biden administration. Those moves have drawn criticism from some lawmakers.

In the letter, Warren posed a series of questions about whether Atkins actually knew the SEC’s enforcement status at the hearing and how he would explain the reasons for the decline. She set an April 28 deadline for responses. As a result, the next issues are expected to be what basis Atkins will use to explain the drop and what position he will take on the dispute over his congressional testimony.

The SEC did not immediately comment on the matter. In that context, Congress is also increasingly likely to examine whether the easing of enforcement against crypto firms is part of the same trend as the agency’s broader enforcement decline.