As in the Senate, one member of the Securities and Exchange Commission can put a hold on action, outgoing SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar revealed Monday.

He explained the chair circulates matters for votes to the commissioners and she votes last. Aguilar called the power of a commissioner to stop an action a “desk drawer veto.”

He explained the only option a commissioner has to push for a matter when another commissioner opposes it is to either persuade that fellow commissioner to “move it along” (even if he or she votes to “disapprove” it) or to persuade the chair to have it voted on at a public meeting.

The recommendation came in a letter for any new SEC commissioner, but obviously was primarily for the individuals who are to replace him and former Commissioner Daniel Gallagher.

President Obama has nominated George Washington University Securities Law Professor Lisa Fairfax to replace Democrat Aguilar, who has said he will leave the SEC at the end of the year, and George Mason University Mercatus Center Financial Markets Working Group Director Hester Peirce to succeed Republican Gallagher, who has already left.

Fairfax and Peirce are expected to get easy confirmation, but the Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule a hearing on the nominations.