Trump Offers Blind Trust Defense As Senate Pushes CLARITY Act Vote To September
The Senate will leave Washington for its August recess without voting on the CLARITY Act, and on the same day the delay became official, President Trump sat for an interview addressing the exact provision that sank it.
THE VOTE THAT SLIPPED TO SEPTEMBER
Senate Republican leaders are expected to leave for their August recess without voting on crypto market structure legislation, delaying consideration of the bill until at least September, according to a report from Politico. Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed that the chamber would not vote on the legislation before the recess, citing Democratic opposition and saying it would be prioritized when senators return next month.
"The Dems are insistent on no Clarity vote," Thune said, according to comments his office provided to Cointelegraph.
Thune added that he worked with sponsors of the bill, and that Senator Lummis was great, and that the vote is getting queued up first thing when the Senate returns. A procedural cloture filing could still happen before the recess, but the floor vote itself will not.
THE ETHICS FIGHT AT THE CENTER OF IT
The holdup is not about market structure mechanics. It is about who the bill's ethics language actually targets. Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego have proposed a clause requiring the president and other federal officials to divest any ownership in a digital asset company worth more than $1 million if it represents over 10% of the firm's value, clearly targeting Trump's crypto endeavors.
Democrats have not backed off. Senator Elizabeth Warren has maintained that Democrats want legislation for the sector, saying she has been calling for crypto legislation for a long time, but crypto legislation written by the crypto industry to protect and advance the crypto industry is not good crypto legislation.
TRUMP'S ANSWER: A BLIND TRUST
Hours after the delay was confirmed, Trump addressed the ethics provision directly in an interview with Punchbowl News. He asked why nobody questioned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over allegations of insider trading in the stock market when she was in office.
On the specific ask, though, Trump did not dig in. "Well, I don't mind putting it in a blind trust," Trump said, adding that he doesn't run his stuff anyway and that he lets his kids run it, and explaining that he does not speak with his kids about government things.
He tied the ethics fight to a bigger geopolitical argument. "Crypto is a big deal," Trump said, adding that if the US doesn't have it, China's going to have it. "I see it more and more where people are paying with Bitcoin, and they don't even know about cash anymore. That takes a lot of pressure off our dollar. It's a good thing for our country," he added.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAS TO HAPPEN NEXT
The bill, formally H.R. 3633, needs 60 votes to clear the Senate, with Democrats insisting on further negotiations before a vote can take place. Market odds on the bill's passage this year have fallen to a record low of 14%. Until Tillis, Gallego, and Democratic holdouts land on ethics language both sides can live with, the CLARITY Act stays exactly where it is: queued, not passed.
This story comes from the Simply Bitcoin Live show. Watch the full episode.
