President Donald Trump is weighing a bipartisan ethics counteroffer for the CLARITY Act as Senate negotiators race to finalize crypto conflict-of-interest rules before the chamber’s August first week recess.
Key Takeaways
Sens. Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego sent a state attorneys general enforcement plan to the White House on July 29.The Senate has until its August 7 recess to secure 60 votes for the CLARITY Act.Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the bill’s progress “the one yard line” on July 29.The White House is now considering whether to accept a revised enforcement mechanism that would let state attorneys general, not just the Department of Justice, police crypto conflicts of interest among senior officials.
The counterproposal came from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who finalized compromise ethics language and sent it to the White House on July 29. Their plan would let state authorities enforce a ban on federal officials issuing or sponsoring digital tokens, addressing a gap Senate Democrats had flagged in an earlier version of the bill.
Why Enforcement Became the Sticking PointAfter nearly 11 months of giving almost everything asked of us, I genuinely don’t know what else my Democrat colleagues need.
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt struck a similar note, telling reporters: “Make it make sense.”
The stakes are high because the CLARITY Act has already cleared one chamber of Congress. The House passed its version 294-134 on July 17, 2025, with more than 70 Democrats crossing over in what remains the most bipartisan digital-asset vote in congressional history.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signaled a floor vote is still possible, telling reporters the chamber will “probably have a vote on the CLARITY Act.” But the bill needs 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats would have to cross over even if the White House accepts the state attorneys general language.
Gallego has said lawmakers are close to finalizing language to submit within days, and Tillis has called the enforcement expansion a workable starting point. Neither the White House nor Senate Democratic leadership had publicly confirmed acceptance of the new language as of the weekend Terrett described.
