President Donald Trump has urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham as lawmakers face a narrowing window before the August recess.
Summary
- Trump has urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham.
- Senate negotiators are racing to finalize a merged draft before Congress begins its August recess.
- Ethics disputes over Trump’s crypto business interests continue to complicate the bill’s path forward.
Trump links crypto bill to Graham’s legacy
In a Truth Social post, President Trump called on senators to pass the CLARITY Act in memory of Senator Lindsey Graham, whom he described as a strong supporter of the legislation. Graham died over the weekend after a brief illness.
While making his appeal, Trump argued that the United States must not lose ground to China in either digital assets or artificial intelligence. He claimed the U.S. is leading in both sectors and warned that China and other countries would like to control what he called a major financial development if Congress fails to act.
The latest appeal adds to Trump’s repeated calls for lawmakers to advance the CLARITY Act, which forms part of his administration’s push to establish the United States as a global center for the crypto industry. As crypto.news previously reported, Senate negotiators are working against a tight legislative calendar before lawmakers leave for their August recess.
Senate staff are expected to release a merged version of the CLARITY Act during the week of July 13. The draft combines proposals from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees and reportedly adds more than 70 pages, including stronger consumer protections and revisions made during bipartisan negotiations.
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt also described the current week as critical for the legislation. In a July 13 X post, Witt noted that the week coincides with the first anniversary of the GENIUS Act becoming law and argued that lawmakers have already lost valuable time. He said Congress can no longer afford further delays as work on the crypto framework enters its final stages.
Ethics dispute remains the biggest hurdle
Support for the bill continues to run alongside a dispute over ethics rules tied to President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency business interests.
As crypto.news reported last week, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden called for congressional hearings into the national security implications of Trump’s crypto holdings before lawmakers move ahead with the CLARITY Act.
According to the senators’ joint statement, Trump’s latest financial disclosure showed that his family’s crypto ventures generated roughly $1.4 billion in income while unidentified outside investors continue to hold interests in the World Liberty Financial project. The lawmakers argued those financial ties deserve closer examination before Congress approves legislation that would reshape U.S. crypto regulation.
Separately, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad recently rejected claims that the CLARITY Act would weaken national security. Shirzad argued that regulatory uncertainty leaves room for bad actors to operate outside clear federal oversight, whereas the proposed legislation would move more crypto activity into a defined compliance framework.
Shirzad added that the bill would require crypto brokers, dealers, and exchanges to comply with Bank Secrecy Act obligations, including anti-money laundering programs, customer identification checks, suspicious activity reporting, sanctions compliance, and procedures allowing platforms to pause suspicious transfers when requested by law enforcement.
He argued these requirements show the legislation imposes stronger safeguards rather than reducing oversight.
Support for the measure also came from Senator Cynthia Lummis, who said Graham believed the United States should remain at the forefront of digital assets. Lummis urged fellow senators to approve the CLARITY Act and send it to President Trump for his signature.
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