Although there's no official word yet on who will replace Democratic SEC commissioner Harvey Goldschmid, sources have told Reuters that the administration may not name a successor for one year.

If that's the case, the SEC would be technically three Republican commissioners to one Democratic commissioner, but effectively evenly split. That's because Chairman William Donaldson, a Republican, sided with Democratic commissioners Goldschmid and Roel Campos in 2004 over many evenly divided issues.

Alternatively, other sources told Reuters that the White House may reward Chairman William Donaldson for his hard work this year and name John Olson, a Washington, D.C.-based partner at the firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, as Goldschmid's replacement.

Goldschmid plans to retire this summer to resume teaching at Columbia University. 

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