A potential White House agreement on ethics rules for the CLARITY Act has already drawn criticism from a key Democratic ally, raising fresh questions about whether the bill can secure enough support to advance in the Senate in the coming days.
CLARITY Act Ethics Deal Tests Support of Key Democrat
21 July 2026 - 23:52 CEST
By Jona Jaupi
The ethics dispute centres around whether the bill should prevent the president, members of Congress and their families from profiting from digital assets while in office. Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, have pushed for stronger restrictions, citing President Donald Trump's crypto businesses as having generated more than $1.4bn in 2025, according to his latest financial disclosure.
Reported new text
While the proposed text has not been released, the new package reportedly would limit how public officials can profit from digital assets while in office and give the Justice Department responsibility for enforcing the rules – an assignment a much-needed Democratic ally of the bill said she finds unacceptable.
"This DOJ enforcing an ethics provision? That's an unserious offer, and I wouldn't support the bill if that's the language," Senator Angela Alsobrooks said in comments shared with Sandmark. "But we'll keep working from that floor to reach an agreement that holds us all accountable."
Alsobrooks has not yet seen the proposed text, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Maryland senator's support was crucial to the bill's bipartisan advance in May, when she was one of only two Democrats to vote with Republicans to move the CLARITY Act through the Senate Banking Committee.
The CLARITY Act, aimed at keeping tech innovation in the US, would set the nation's first comprehensive rules for digital assets, including whether cryptocurrencies are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
This latest development comes after the bill has faced months of delays over ethics rules for public officials, anti-money-laundering (AML) measures and stablecoin rewards. Republicans need Democratic support to reach the 60 votes needed to move the bill forward before lawmakers leave for recess in early August.
Ethics deal drama
Reports earlier on 21 Jul said Trump had agreed to an ethics package after talks with Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno. The reported deal followed a 16 Jul meeting between Trump, Lummis, Moreno and White House digital assets adviser Patrick Witt.
Senator Moreno's office directed Sandmark to reports of the agreement but did not comment further when asked about the ethics provision.
Meanwhile, a White House official told Sandmark on 21 Jul that the administration is "committed to working with Congress to see the CLARITY Act advance and has agreed to the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history."
"If Senate Democrats block this historic legislation after the administration has bent over backward to accommodate their concerns, stakeholders should make no mistake: it is the Democrats who are blocking this legislation because they were never serious about a legislative outcome," the official added.
Thune says Democratic votes are needed
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the bill's progress depends on whether negotiators can secure enough Democratic votes to begin debate.
"I think it's going to depend on whether the Democrats get to a place where they can deliver the votes for us to get on the bill," Thune told reporters on 21 Jul. "And we're still working on that."
Thune added that there was a "good chance" of reaching a deal, but that talks could shift quickly. "Today I think there's a good chance, knock on wood, that they'll strike something that we can get the votes for to get it on the floor," he said. "We'll see. That may change. May change within the hour."
A person familiar with Thune's position told Sandmark that he plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor before August. However, Republicans will need Democratic votes to begin considering it.
If the bill passes the Senate, the House must then approve the Senate's changes before Trump can sign it into law. Lawmakers face a narrow window: the Senate is scheduled to leave Washington after 10 Aug for a five-week recess, with limited floor time after that remaining before the November midterm elections increasingly dominate the congressional agenda.
