President Donald Trump called on the Senate to pass the Clarity Act “in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, a big supporter” of the crypto market structure bill, in a Truth Social post Monday. Graham, the South Carolina Republican and Senate Banking Committee chair, died unexpectedly on July 11.
Trump framed the bill as a race against Beijing. “China, and many other countries, would like to take complete and total control of this major financial ‘happening,’ as well as A.I., where we are now leading, but where they are fighting hard,” he wrote, adding “Don’t let China win on either subject!!!”
Tight Legislative Window
The push comes as the Senate works against an August 7 recess deadline. Lawmakers merged separate Banking and Agriculture committee versions of the bill, adding more than 70 pages of consumer protections, with floor action targeted for the week of July 20 and 60 votes needed for passage.
Democratic support has hinged on ethics provisions limiting officials, including the president, from profiting off crypto ventures while in office. The Defiant previously reported that the White House was negotiating an ethics carve-out deal with Senate Democrats to unlock the needed votes.
The Clarity Act would split crypto oversight between the SEC and the more permissive CFTC, a framework the industry has lobbied for as a way to end regulatory ambiguity that has pushed some projects offshore.
