Sen. Ruben Gallego said the Senate’s CLARITY Act, a bill aimed at setting US crypto market structure rules, can still pass if negotiators secure an agreement with the White House on ethics provisions.
Those ethics rules have become the main remaining obstacle in talks over the legislation. The issue has gained weight as President Donald Trump’s crypto holdings and related business interests have expanded, putting conflict-of-interest restrictions at the center of the debate.
Ethics language becomes the central dispute
Gallego, one of the key Democratic negotiators on the bill, said the measure will need 60 votes to advance in the Senate. He argued that reaching that threshold depends on a stronger ethics framework, while other unresolved matters also still need to be closed out.
According to Gallego, the bill cannot reach the necessary support without a credible ethics package. He also said negotiators are still working through other open questions, including how far stablecoin rewards should be allowed to go and how strict anti-illicit-finance protections should be.
July compromise drew Democratic criticism
Trump agreed in July to ethics language that would bar public officials, government employees and their spouses from directly issuing or sponsoring digital assets. That version would be enforced by the Department of Justice and would expire in January 2029 under a sunset clause.
Democrats said that approach was too weak. Their objections focused in part on the enforcement structure and the limited duration of the restriction, leaving the earlier agreement short of what they considered necessary to address conflict-of-interest concerns.
New proposal adds state enforcement
Trump is now reviewing a revised compromise put together by Gallego and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. The updated proposal would prohibit public officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets and would also authorize state attorneys general to enforce the rule.
That change marks a tougher approach than the July version, which placed enforcement solely with the Justice Department. The ethics debate has become especially important because it is now viewed as the final major hurdle to getting the broader market structure bill through the Senate.
Deadline approaches after August recess
The legislative timetable is tight. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is scheduled to hold the first procedural vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15, after Congress returns from its August recess.
Gallego said there are lawmakers on both the left and the right who do not want to finish the negotiations because they prefer to keep the bill alive as a political issue. At the same time, he said others want to complete the legislation and provide a framework that would allow continued innovation in the US crypto sector.
The next confirmed step is the planned September 15 procedural vote. Before then, the bill’s prospects appear to depend on whether the White House accepts an ethics compromise that can win enough support to bring the measure to 60 votes in the Senate.
Source: en.bloomingbit.io