The SEC spokeswoman said the agency is following its operations plan for shutdowns, a situation it has faced more than once, including during the Trump administration when the federal government went dark for 35 days. He said the agency would halt lawsuits if the situation poses a threat to consumers' property and stop evaluating and approving applications for new products.
The legal battles between the SEC and Binance and the similar conflict with Coinbase should remain in motion for now. If the shutdown were to move past the initial weeks, a reduced version of its workload and staffing takes over under the Anti-Deficiency Act, with limited personnel handling only certain cases.
The House bills that have cleared their committee hurdles - most notably one that would set up top-to-bottom regulations for U.S. crypto markets and another that would establish regulations for stablecoins - are generally expected to represent a limited success, because the Senate is not likely to pick up the House's ball and run with it.