A group of Democratic senators said in a statement Wednesday night that the bill was still “falling short” of what it needed to get their support, but that they would continue working on it with Republicans. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, argued Wednesday that the policy as written would allow Trump to continue his cryptocurrency businesses largely intact, with any inappropriate activity ignored by his loyal Justice Department and then legally barred from prosecution once he leaves office.
Other pending issues
Beyond ethics, lawmakers can continue to negotiate illicit finance provisions, Lummis said.
“We think we’ve landed in a good place,” he said, because the effort addresses the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering protections, sanctions coverage for exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Some of the new additions were made at the request of authorities, such as a provision addressing crypto ATM fraud.
There is also a safe harbor for crypto platforms to freeze funds if they suspect the assets are linked to suspicious transactions, particularly if those companies are cooperating with authorities, he said.
The text also includes a provision that says it is the “sense of Congress” that at least two of the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission be nominated in consultation with the minority party. Right now, neither agency has Democratic commissioners, as the SEC is led by three Republicans, while the CFTC only has one commissioner leading the agency.
