Three Democratic U.S. senators oppose the CLARITY Act, calling it “corrupt legislation”

According to CoinDesk, three Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Senate (Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, and Jeff Merkley) on Tuesday at a press briefing in Congress voiced strong opposition to the CLARITY Act, the Digital Assets Market Clarity Act.

The lawmakers had previously criticized the cryptocurrency regulatory bill, further reinforcing opposition similar to that of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and calling to block the bill’s passage politically.

The Democrats’ main focus in opposing the bill is the personal cryptocurrency interests of Donald Trump. Data from the Office of Government Ethics shows that in 2025, Trump’s crypto business revenue was $1.4 billion, more than double his total revenue for all of 2024.

Notably, Democratic Sen. Van Hollen of the Senate Banking Committee was even more direct, calling the CLARITY Act an enabling piece of legislation that fosters corruption and poses serious harm.

The key bottleneck blocking the bill’s advance lies in the absence of ethics rules. The text does not restrict high-level officials such as the president from getting involved in the crypto industry, which is also the core reason the Democratic lawmakers refuse to support the bill.

Sen. Murphy also pointed out that the bill currently cannot constrain Trump from profiting off the cryptocurrency industry, and that there may be fundamental conflicts of interest and corruption issues; therefore, the bill has no real value.

At present, for the CLARITY Act to pass in the Senate, it must secure enough Democratic lawmakers’ support before the summer recess of Congress.

Although the final version of the bill is scheduled to be released as early as Tuesday, the various parties and the White House have yet to reach a compromise on ethics rules.

In addition, Trump’s latest financial filing shows his crypto business revenue exceeds $1 billion, providing Democrats with further grounds to resist the bill and raising concerns that the bill could shield Trump’s crypto assets from a legal standpoint.

Overall, opponents believe that if the CLARITY Act lacks ethics constraint provisions, it would not only effectively protect the Trump family’s related interests, but also harm the public interest.

This public opposition directly increases the difficulty of mustering the 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, and significantly lowers the probability that the bill will be able to pass smoothly before the Senate’s summer recess.

#CLARITY Act