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Trump ties bill to Graham
President Donald Trump urged the Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act “in honor of” the late Senator Lindsey Graham, linking the crypto market structure bill to the South Carolina Republican’s death.
Trump asked senators to advance the legislation “in honor of” Sen. Lindsey Graham, calling him a “big supporter” of it, while the bill remains mired in partisan fighting over the president’s own holdings in digital assets.
The push comes as Republicans’ Senate majority has narrowed to 51-47, with Graham’s death and Sen. Mitch McConnell’s continued absence thinning the party’s margin.
The Washington Post reported that Trump recently reported that he made more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency in 2025, and Democrats raised concerns that the legislation does not include ethics provisions regulating elected officials’ crypto holdings.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also framed passage as a contest with Beijing, writing, “Don’t let China win on either subject!!!”
Ethics fight and competing voices
Senate Democrats have refused to supply the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster without conflict-of-interest language covering the president and his family after Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed at least $1.4 billion in crypto income.
Senator Elizabeth Warren warned in a Monday letter to Senate leaders that Trump stood to financially benefit from the bill, while the Unchained Podcast said the text still carries no ethics provision.
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt urged lawmakers to move, saying lawmakers “cannot afford to delay any longer.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis, writing that Graham “was passionate about ensuring that American leadership stayed at the forefront of everything – including digital assets,” amplified Trump’s push for passage.
The Washington Post also noted that Graham was not a sponsor of the legislation and did not sit on the Senate Banking Committee that advanced the legislation earlier this year.
What’s at stake next
The Clarity Act has backing from the White House and major crypto companies, but it faces a central obstacle in the Senate: clearing a filibuster takes 60 votes.
“President Trump is tying the fate of the CLARITY Act to the memory of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died Saturday at 71 after a sudden illness, as the crypto market structure bill faces a narrowing window to pass the Senate”
The House passed its version 294-134 last July, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill 15-9 in May, yet it has sat on the calendar since, with the Unchained Podcast describing a narrow window before the August recess.
The Block reported that new bill text is expected this week, but still carries no ethics provision, as Democrats press for language barring the president, vice president, senior officials and their families from profiting off crypto.
CoinDesk described Democratic demands that the ethical section extend to close associates of officials and include prohibitions on holdings as well as disclosure rules, with Senator Chris Murphy convening ethicists and anti-corruption advocates.
CoinDesk also quoted Senator Kirsten Gillibrand saying, “The time to act is now—and that must include ethical reforms prohibiting Members of Congress, the President, and their spouses from profiting from their positions.”
