The latest draft of the CLARITY Act is drawing praise from the crypto industry and criticism from Democrats and bankers, highlighting deep divisions that threaten to stall the bill just weeks before the Senate’s August recess.
The ethics language would bar the president, vice president and members of Congress from issuing digital assets. Enforcement would sit exclusively with the Justice Department, not state attorneys general. Senator Angela Alsobrooks called the DOJ-only model an “unserious offer” and will not support the bill in that form. The full legislative text is expected within days, with under three weeks before the August recess.
One day after President Donald Trump reportedly approved an ethics framework for the CLARITY Act, the first details of that language have emerged, and they have already cost the bill the public support of one of the two Democrats it most needs.
According to reporting from The Block, citing three sources familiar with a Tuesday industry call held by White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt, the approved language would prohibit federal officials, including the president, vice president and members of Congress, from issuing digital assets.