Washington - Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler said a vote by a House Subcommittee to cut the commission's budget risked creating mayhem as the regulator is tasked with overseeing markets that have grown exponentially over the years.

"The CFTC's hardworking staff is just 10 percent more in numbers than at our peak in the 1990s, yet Congress has now directed the agency to oversee the swaps market that is eight times larger than the futures market," Gensler said in a statement.

Using the National Football League to make his point, Gensler suggested this situation was equivalent to the NFL expanding eightfold to play more than 100 football games in a weekend with just one or even no referee per game. "Imagine the mayhem on the field, the resulting injuries to players, and the loss of confidence fans would have in the integrity of the game," he said.

"We would not want similar mayhem and loss of confidence in markets so critical to farmers, ranchers and end users that may result from this bill's significant underfunding of the CFTC."

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies had voted to cut the CFTC budget.