The same reporting describes the enforcement design that has become the flashpoint: the Department of Justice would act as the provision’s chief enforcer, with no role for state attorneys general. That choice is not incidental. A mechanism that would have allowed state attorneys general to sue the DOJ for failing to enforce the ethics rules was withdrawn by Republicans in a closed-door session in June, collapsing an earlier near-deal.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, one of only two Democrats who voted the bill out of the Senate Banking Committee in May, told Crypto in America’s Eleanor Terrett that the DOJ-only model is an “unserious offer” and she would not support the bill if that language remains. Her stance underscores the fragility of the bipartisan coalition needed to reach 60 votes in the Senate.
Democratic resistance has been building for weeks. Senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, and Jeff Merkley publicly denounced the bill at a Capitol Hill press conference, with Murphy stating, “If this system does not stop Trump’s corruption of the entire industry, this bill is worthless.” Their central concern is that the legislation contains no safeguards preventing President Trump from benefiting financially from an industry his administration would oversee. Trump reported $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency earnings for 2025, intensifying Democratic demands for strict conflict-of-interest rules.