Kirsten Gillibrand Proposes Ban On Trump, Congress Members Issuing Meme Coins

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand proposed that the president, members of Congress and their spouses should be barred from issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets, including meme coins tied to President Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

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Gillibrand said the restriction would include the U.S. president and spouse, but she did not specify whether it would extend to the vice president or other family members, as talks continue over the Clarity bill in the Senate.

Cointelegraph

Cointelegraph reported that Gillibrand framed the proposal as a way to correct conflicts of interest involving public officials, and she said public officials’ pursuit of private gain should not destabilise efforts to overhaul the digital asset regime.

In the same negotiations context, Gillibrand said consideration of the bill was delayed due to concerns about ethics issues, tokenisation and stablecoin rewards, and added that without resolving ethics concerns, no one would support the bill.

Gillibrand’s renewed push followed President Trump’s crypto income disclosure, which one report said showed he earned about $1.4 billion from crypto ventures the same year he took office.

In a Friday notice, Gillibrand reiterated her call for members of Congress and their spouses to be barred from issuing or promoting crypto memecoins, arguing that “public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins.”

Crypto News

The dispute has been tied to Senate ethics demands as lawmakers debate the CLARITY Act, with Gillibrand saying ethics provisions remain a key sticking point in ongoing negotiations.

Gillibrand also said she was hopeful the CLARITY Act could move through the Senate Banking Committee in the next two weeks, but added that Democrats want unresolved issues addressed before offering more support.

One account said Gillibrand’s proposal would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress and their spouses from creating, sponsoring, or promoting digital assets, with violations carrying fines or referrals to ethics bodies.

“President Donald Trump’s crypto income disclosure has intensified Senate ethics demands as lawmakers debate the CLARITY Act”

Crypto News

That same report described the Ethics in Digital Assets Act as applying to the president, vice president, members of Congress, and their immediate family members, and it said it would bar them from creating, sponsoring, or promoting any digital asset, including memecoins and utility tokens.

Another report said the proposal would bar all elected officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets, and it quoted Gillibrand saying, “Public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins.”

The WBNG account also said the First Lady issued her own memecoin and separately reported $6 million in income from NFTs and other digital collectibles, while Gillibrand’s office cited roughly $636 million coming from issuing a memecoin in 2025.