Trump Holds Key to CLARITY Act's Future Amid Bipartisan Ethics Offer
The fate of the CLARITY Act now rests in the hands of President Donald Trump as he weighs an ethics counteroffer involving state attorneys general. The White House received a bipartisan proposal on Thursday morning, drafted by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), which gives state attorneys general the power to sue the Department of Justice if it fails to enforce ethics laws against federal officials.
The mechanism mirrors one already in law under the Laken Riley Act, which allows state AGs to sue over certain federal immigration enforcement failures. The new proposal is a response to a previous White House offer that fell short, rejected by Tillis, Gallego, and several other key Democrats.
Industry leaders and lobbyists have been making calls to White House officials and influential allies, urging an ethics compromise before the Senate recess. JPMorgan has warned that further delays to the bill could allow traditional financial firms to capture blockchain and tokenization growth at the expense of public crypto networks.