The Clarity Act must be sold to a large number of Democrats in the coming days if it is to pass the Senate before Congress’s summer recess and focus on the fall midterm elections. Although a new and potentially final draft is set to emerge as soon as Tuesday, it still lacks a decision on what could be the final and most important sticking point: a section that prohibits high-ranking officials — including the president — from personally engaging in the crypto industry.
The ethics provision remains at the forefront of the debate, and many Democrats have said they can’t vote for a clarity bill that doesn’t have it. Those pledges also came from Democrats who sat at the negotiating table and voted for the bill when it passed the Senate Banking Committee.
“If this system doesn’t stop Trump’s corruption of the entire industry, this bill is worthless,” said Murphy, who has not been among the Democrats at the negotiating table with Republicans. “If it protects Trump’s dominance over an industry that he wants more control to regulate, the bill is in and of itself a fundamental corruption if it gives Trump’s corruption the protection of the law.”
