Senator Cantwell, White House discuss CFTC nominee: aide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell was in discussions with the White House about her continuing objection to President Barack Obama's nomination of Gary Gensler to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an aide to Cantwell said on Thursday.

"We are in discussions with the White House," said Ciaran Clayton, spokeswoman for the Democratic senator.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, earlier on Thursday said he had dropped his objection to the Gensler nomination. But Clayton said Cantwell's objection continues.

"She feels that Mr. Gensler was part of the group that allowed a lot of these financial markets loopholes to stay in place," Clayton said.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Dan Grebler)