Sen. Gallego Trashes CLARITY Act Ethics Draft, Calls It "Piece Of S**t"

Gallego Rejects White House-Backed Ethics Language

Senator Ruben Gallego has delivered a blunt verdict on the Republican ethics proposal attached to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, calling it a "piece of s**t" and dismissing it as "not a serious effort." The Arizona Democrat's remarks, reported by Politico, mark a significant escalation in a dispute that has clouded the bill's path to the Senate floor.

The ethics provisions released as part of the updated Clarity Act would bar senior federal officials, including the president, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office, and give the Department of Justice exclusive authority to enforce the ethics rules. That last point is the central sticking point. Gallego and other Democrats had pushed for state attorneys general to have enforcement power alongside federal prosecutors; the final text left them out entirely.

An ethics rule policed solely by the DOJ is, in Democratic eyes, an ethics rule policed by an agency whose leadership serves at the president's pleasure, the same president the provision is designed to constrain. Republicans, for their part, have defended the draft as containing the strongest ethics provisions proposed to date.

Bipartisan Counterproposal in the Works

Gallego said he is now working alongside Sen. Thom Tillis and other unnamed Republican senators to draft a counterproposal that will be presented to negotiators. Tillis said the White House-backed proposal was a positive starting point but acknowledged that additional changes would likely be needed to attract the 60 votes required for Senate passage.

Senators Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock, a core group of negotiators that would likely be needed to advance the bill, said they would keep working with their Republican counterparts on the Clarity Act but that it needed more work on various outstanding issues, including how the bill addresses illicit finance and consumer protections.

Alsobrooks and Gallego joined Republicans when the Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act in a 15-9 vote in May, although both warned that their committee support did not guarantee backing on the Senate floor. The deadline pressure is real. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he no longer expects the chamber to pass the bill before the August recess, though he hopes to at least begin debate on the measure before lawmakers adjourn.

The broader stakes extend beyond procedural timelines. Lawmakers remain divided over ethics provisions designed to address President Donald Trump's potential financial gains from crypto ventures, making the dispute as much about executive accountability as it is about digital asset regulation.

Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Senators seek counterproposal to Trump ethics provision in Clarity Act
CoinDesk: Key Democratic lawmakers say crypto Clarity Act falls short on ethics
CNBC: Senate crypto bill would ban federal officials from issuing digital assets