CLARITY Act Gets Last-Minute Boost as Trump Agrees to New Crypto Ethics Rules

President Donald Trump agreed to a more stringent set of ethics rules covering his crypto holdings, giving Senate members momentum as they push to pass the CLARITY Act this week. The concession came after weeks of debate from lawmakers who said the bill would not get the required support without ethics restrictions on the President.

🚨NEWS: Senate Republicans have released new Clarity Act text featuring a revised ethics proposal agreed to by President Trump. 

The text also contains changes to the sections on the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), stablecoin yield, and the so-called “Ag title.”…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 14, 2026

Trump signs off on stronger ethics language

The President had first agreed to an ethics proposal in July that bars him and his wife from issuing meme coins like TRUMP coin. Then, late Sunday, Republicans shared that Trump had agreed to a new ethics proposal that many senators were pushing for.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Sens. John Boozman and Tim Scott released the “final legislative text” of the bill in the early hours of Monday after concluding negotiations. Lummis said the updated CLARITY Act included over 120 changes made at the request of Democrats.

“President Trump voluntarily agreed to new ethics provisions holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S. history,” Lummis said in a statement.

The new ethics language would prohibit federally elected officials, judges, and their spouses from launching crypto tokens. It would also allow enforcement by the state attorneys general and the Department of Justice. 

That detail had been a major sticking point for Democrats, who said they do not trust that the Trump-appointed attorney general would act against the President if needed.

How the ethics fight played out

The call for tougher ethics rules began in mid-July, when Lummis and Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio met with Trump and told him he would need to accept conflict-of-interest restrictions to win over Democratic votes. Trump agreed at the time with little pushback.

Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina then proposed that the President place his crypto holdings in a blind trust and divest once those holdings hit a certain value. 

In theory, that plan could have affected Trump’s stake in ventures like World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by his sons.

White House officials had also raised concerns about giving state attorneys general 

enforcement power. They worried that it could be used as a political tool against Republican officials or, in turn, against Democrats by GOP attorneys general.  

A senior Republican aide said the President finally agreed to about 80% of the Tillis-Gallego proposal, with the state attorneys general provision being the key sticking point resolved.

Additionally, the updated CLARITY Act gives the Treasury Secretary power to help prevent deposit flight linked to payment stablecoins. It also includes a provision for officials to divest or place in a blind trust any crypto stake.

Key Vote on Tuesday

Senate Republicans released an update on the bill on Thursday, with no changes to the ethics provision at the time. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer then called a meeting of Senate Democrats on Sunday to negotiate further.

It cannot be said with certainty that the new changes will be enough to get the 60 votes needed for Tuesday’s procedural vote.  Lummis said any opposition to the bill is opposition to ethics reform itself. 

After a year of intense daily bipartisan negotiations, this bill is ready. Here is the final text. President Trump voluntarily agreed to new ethics provisions holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S.…

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) September 14, 2026