James E. Hubbard, Dawn DeBerry Stump and Dan Michael Berkovitz were confirmed for federal posts by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Upon swearing in, James E. Hubbard will serve as undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dawn DeBerry Stump and Dan Michael Berkovitz will serve as commissioners of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a joint statement, Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R., Kan.) and ranking member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) said they are pleased that the Senate has advanced these qualified nominees. “Our hard-working farmers, ranchers and folks in rural America have waited too long to be represented in these crucial capacities,” they said.

The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing for Stump on July 27, 2017, and Hubbard and Berkovitz on July 24, 2018.

The CFTC approvals allow the agency to finally have a full slate of commissioners, as CFTC had been lacking at least one member of the five-commissioner board for several years.

Futures Industry Assn. president and chief executive officer Walt Lukken congratulated Stump and Berkovitz on their confirmations. Lukken served as acting chairman of CFTC for 18 months from June 2007 to January 2009 -- a period that included the financial crisis -- and as a CFTC commissioner from 2002 to 2009.

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“Both bring years of experience and expertise to the agency at a critical time and will approach the issues facing this industry with fairness, balance and a willingness to listen,” Lukken said. “It has been a pleasure to work closely with both of these thoughtful individuals over the years, and we look forward to the benefits of having a full complement of commissioners under the leadership of [CFTC] chairman [Christopher] Giancarlo.”

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue praised the approval of Hubbard to complement his team at USDA.

“I’m very excited for Jim to finally join our team here at USDA,” Perdue said. "His decades of experience, both in Colorado and across the federal government, make him uniquely qualified for this role, and I’m confident that he will hit the ground running. I commend the Senate for its approval of Jim and urge senators to take up other USDA nominees as quickly as possible."