Senator Kevin Cramer said the Senate is close to an agreement on the Clarity Act, the crypto market structure bill, and a new set of ethics and enforcement amendments before Democrats for review.
The North Dakota Republican, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, told Fox Business on Tuesday that the bill is growing “clearer” as “each issue is discussed,” and that “we’re almost there.” He said the main concern is that the Democrats are reading new amendments, “some of which are related to the moral point.”
The central compromise Cramer described is concern over who enforces the law. He said there appears to be an “agreement that the Department of Justice will have the authority to enforce the law,” a draft he supports as the source of similar laws. He said Democrats preferred the role of state attorneys general, an approach he said would create a “very different environment” for industry transparency.
Ethics is against President Trump
That question of enforcement sits at the heart of the months-long ethics battle over President Trump’s crypto plans.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, who chairs the Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee, floated language that would allow federal prosecutors to sue exchanges that list tokens issued by government officials, a provision aimed at keeping ties to the president and his family.
Democrats on the committee pushed for stronger conflict-of-interest rules, and an amendment to bar the president, vice president, and members of Congress from crypto business relationships failed on a party vote during committee markup.
Trump met with senators over the ethics dispute as the White House and negotiators worked to reach a compromise. Cramer’s proposed change would move that enforcement to federal prosecutors instead of fifty separate state offices, a change that narrows the options available to challenge a listed token but centralizes the decision to operate at the Justice Department.
Cramer said the Senate still has “a few more weeks” before the August recess, and echoed Lummis in their push before recess.
“We have to do this,” he said of the Clarity Act.
Lummis, in an interview last week, said the bill is “ready” and that it is “very important” to pass it before the recess, so that markets can see “the stability that will be provided to them if they remain onshore in the United States.”
Cramer marked one sticking point beyond enforcement: the definition of securities holders. “The industry doesn’t like that,” he said, and noted the choice of definition built on decentralization. He dismissed the remaining blanks as matters of “minor detail.”
More clarifications about the Law of Clarity
The Clarification Act would split oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Futures Trading Commission, set disclosure rules for certain tokens, and extend anti-money laundering rules and penalties to crypto trading. The House passed its version last year, and the measure has been pending in the Senate ever since.
The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version of the Clarity Act by a 15-9 vote this spring, with two Democrats abstaining.
The timeline is tight. Majority Leader John Thune aims to introduce the bill before the deadline expires in early August, and House members have urged the Senate to work through the window.
The CFTC chairman called the bill “very close”, while Galaxy Research reduced the chances of its passage to 50-50 as the clock ticked down.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen: Clarity Act on ‘1-yard line’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added his voice to the push, telling Bloomberg that lawmakers stand at the “1-yard line” on the Clarity Act and urged Congress to pass the bill before recess.
The bill competes in the low season with a continuing resolution to end the government shutdown at the end of September and a reconciliation package, priorities Cramer put ahead of other items in the same debate. President Trump pressed the chamber to pass the crypto measure, a message he paired with warnings about competition from China.
In all likelihood, Cramer stopped short of a firm date. “I don’t know that we’re getting to it this week,” he said, a caveat that leaves the finalization of the bill in the Senate days before lawmakers leave for Washington.
