Senate Crypto Bill Hit by Ethics Debate Stalemate
The Senate's efforts to advance the Clarity Act have hit another obstacle as Democrats rejected ethics language backed by the White House. The proposed language would bar senior federal officials, including President Donald Trump, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office and give the Department of Justice exclusive authority to enforce ethics rules.
Democrats have dismissed the language, saying they cannot support it if enforcement is left exclusively to the DOJ. Sen. Ruben Gallego described the proposal as inadequate after months of bipartisan negotiations, arguing that the final language failed to reflect the work Democrats and Republicans had done together on the issue.
Gallego said he is now working alongside Sen. Thom Tillis and other unnamed Republican senators to draft a counterproposal that will be presented to negotiators. The unresolved ethics debate has clouded the outlook for crypto legislation, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying he no longer expects the chamber to pass the bill before the August recess.