A group of Democratic senators said in a statement late Wednesday that the bill still “lacked” where it needed to be to get their support, but that they would continue to work on it with Republicans. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, argued on Wednesday that the policy as written would let Trump continue his crypto dealings largely untouched, and any improper activity would be ignored by his loyal Justice Department and then legally shielded from prosecution once he leaves office.
Other outstanding issues
Beyond ethics, lawmakers may continue to negotiate illegal financial provisions, Lummis said.
“We think we’ve landed in a good place,” she said, because the effort addresses the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering protection, sanctions coverage for exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Some of the new additions were made at the request of law enforcement, such as a provision addressing crypto automated teller machine (ATM) fraud.
There is also a safe harbor for crypto platforms to freeze funds if they suspect the assets are linked to suspicious transactions, especially if those companies are cooperating with law enforcement, she said.
The text also includes a provision saying it is “the sense of Congress” that at least two of the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will be nominated in consultation with the minority party. Right now, neither agency has any Democratic commissioners, with the SEC run by three Republicans, while the CFTC has just a single commissioner running the agency.
