At the center of the dispute is the Clarity Act, a Republican proposal already through the House and now under review in the Senate. While Republicans push to keep the drafting process in their hands, a coalition of twelve Democrats — including Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Ruben Gallego, and Mark Warner — is insisting that such legislation must be built jointly from the ground up. Earlier this year, that same group introduced its own seven-point vision for crypto oversight, signaling it does not want to play a backseat role.
Democrats argue that the Agriculture Committee, which oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, should have a stronger hand in shaping the rules. Their aides say the party is unwilling to accept a process where Republicans write the bill and Democrats only mark it up afterward.
So far, Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee have left the door open to delay the timeline until late October, but they have not committed to giving Democrats equal authorship. The most recent Republican draft calls for the SEC and CFTC to establish a joint body aimed at harmonizing digital asset regulation, a nod to years of turf battles between the two agencies.
Democrats, by contrast, want the CFTC to take primary responsibility for non-security tokens while giving the SEC clearer authority when digital assets meet the definition of securities. They also propose ethics restrictions that would prevent lawmakers or their families from launching crypto projects while holding office — a measure aimed squarely at President Donald Trump, whose fortune has swelled during his time in the White House thanks to crypto ventures.
Whether Congress lands on compromise or gridlock will depend on how these competing visions are reconciled in the coming weeks. The outcome could define how America approaches digital asset oversight for years to come.
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