White House Receives Senators' Counterproposal on CLARITY Act Ethics Provisions: Report
Time is running short for passage of a sweeping crypto market structure bill ahead of the Senate's month-long recess, as ethics provisions continue to divide legislators on both sides of the aisle.
A bipartisan pair of US senators has delivered modified ethics guidelines to the White House in connection with ongoing negotiations surrounding a cryptocurrency market structure bill currently under consideration in Congress, according to reports.
A Thursday report from PunchBowl indicates that Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Ruben Gallego have presented the Trump administration with a counteroffer featuring modifications to ethics provisions within the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The modifications would purportedly resolve concerns raised by numerous legislators regarding the initial version by empowering state authorities to enforce prohibitions on federal officials issuing or sponsoring tokens, shifting this responsibility away from the US Attorney General.
Gallego, a member of the Democratic Party, has stated previously that provisions concerning ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity "must be strengthened" and that he would continue collaborating with Republicans to get the bill "over the finish line." Cointelegraph contacted representatives from both Gallego's and Tillis' offices seeking clarification regarding the proposed modifications but had not received an immediate response.
The suggested revisions to the cryptocurrency bill have the potential to attract support from Senate Democrats, a significant number of whom have stated publicly they will not vote for the CLARITY Act "if it protects [US President Donald] Trump's dominance over an industry that he will have more control to regulate." Republicans presently hold an effective 52-47 majority in the Senate with Senator Mitch McConnell away due to medical reasons, and will require support from Democrats to achieve the 60-vote threshold necessary for the bill to pass.