TLDR
- Trump disclosed $1.4 billion in crypto-related earnings, raising conflict-of-interest concerns among Senate Democrats
- Democrats are demanding ethics rules in the Clarity Act that would ban officials and family members from owning or profiting from crypto
- Republicans’ Senate majority has shrunk to 51-47 following Senator Graham’s death and Senator McConnell’s hospitalization
- Senate Majority Leader Thune wants a vote on Clarity this month, but key sections remain unfinished
- Trump invoked Senator Graham’s death to push for the bill’s passage, despite Graham having no direct role in Clarity negotiations
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is running into serious trouble in the Senate. Democrats say they will not support the bill unless it includes strong ethics rules targeting officials who profit from the crypto industry — with Trump squarely in their sights.
BREAKING: Trump just publicly demanded the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act.
He called on the Senate to pass it in honor of Lindsey Graham, who died two days ago.
Trump says China wants to take total control of crypto and AI, and the US is currently leading on both.
The Senate… pic.twitter.com/psNTInK2zO
— Bull Theory (@BullTheoryio) July 13, 2026
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed he earned around $1.4 billion connected to crypto. His largest single income source was $636 million from his personal memecoin. Democrats say this is exactly the kind of conflict the bill needs to address.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she and fellow Democrats have been pushing to make it illegal for presidents to issue or sponsor any digital assets. Senator Chris Murphy organized a briefing for Senate Democratic offices last week, bringing in ethics advocates who argued the bill’s ethics section must cover family members and include both ownership bans and disclosure rules.
Several Senate Democrats announced they will hold a press conference this week to publicly oppose the Clarity Act as currently written, saying it fails to stop what they called Trump’s “corrupt crypto schemes.”
Senate Math Gets Harder After Graham’s Death
The bill was already facing a tough path. To pass the Senate, it needs 60 votes, meaning Republicans must win over several Democrats. That task just got harder.
Senator Lindsey Graham died over the weekend at age 71. Senator Mitch McConnell is hospitalized. That has reduced the Republican majority to 51-47, making Democratic support even more critical.
Trump responded by urging the Senate to pass Clarity “in honor of” Graham. But Graham did not serve on the relevant committees, did not vote on Clarity, and made no public statements directly supporting the bill. He did vote for the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill in 2025.
Senator Cynthia Lummis backed Trump’s comments, saying Graham “was passionate about ensuring American leadership stayed at the forefront of everything, including digital assets.”
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt called this a “critical week” for the bill on Monday, noting it falls on the one-year anniversary of the GENIUS Act becoming law.
Key Details Still Unresolved
The Senate has about four weeks left before a month-long August recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he wants a floor vote this month regardless of the bill’s final shape.
A new draft of the Clarity Act is expected within days, but it is not expected to include finished language on the ethics provision or a few other disputed sections.
The Clarity Act would move most crypto oversight from the SEC to the CFTC. But without Democratic buy-in on ethics rules, it may not reach the 60-vote threshold needed to pass.
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