Trump concedes state attorney general enforcement in the CLARITY Act’s ethics package before Tuesday’s Senate cloture vote, according to Republicans
President Donald Trump has agreed to most of a bipartisan ethics package attached to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis, Tim Scott and John Boozman said.
The three senators released what they called the final text of the bill late on 13 September, hours before its first Senate floor test. The 635-page substitute incorporates 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats over more than a year of negotiations, according to Lummis’s office.
Trump agreed to about 80% of an ethics counterproposal from Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego, a senior Republican aide told Associated Press reporters on condition of anonymity. The concession centres on state attorneys general, who would gain authority to enforce the bill’s conflict-of-interest rules alongside the Department of Justice.
The CLARITY Act would split US oversight of digital assets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The House passed its version in July 2025 by 294 votes to 134, and the Senate Banking Committee cleared the bill by 15 votes to 9 in May 2026.
State attorneys general gain enforcement role
Earlier drafts assigned enforcement to the Justice Department alone, with no independent role for state prosecutors.
The White House had resisted the change, arguing that state attorneys general could use the authority for political purposes, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The provision subjects Trump to enforcement by prosecutors he does not appoint. Covered federal officials and their spouses would have to divest “significant” crypto-related financial interests or place them in a qualified blind trust under the revised text.
The ban prohibits officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office and expires in January 2029.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed more than $1.4bn in crypto-related income. His family’s crypto interests include World Liberty Financial, the USD1 stablecoin and the TRUMP memecoin.
CLARITY Act: stablecoin and developer changes
The final text gives the Treasury Secretary new authority to prevent deposit flight tied to payment stablecoins, according to Lummis’s office. It also edits the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act to shield developers from money-transmission registration requirements and establishes what the sponsors called a civil safe harbour.
Lummis set out the case for the bill in a post on X on 14 September. “After a year of intense daily bipartisan negotiations, this bill is ready,” she wrote, adding that Trump “voluntarily agreed to new ethics provisions holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S. history”.
After a year of intense daily bipartisan negotiations, this bill is ready. Here is the final text. President Trump voluntarily agreed to new ethics provisions holding every federally elected official, judge, and their spouses to some of the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S.…
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) September 14, 2026
Lummis said in a statement that the text includes more than 120 Democratic demands. “Democrats got what they wanted; now they need to take yes for an answer,” she said.
Tuesday’s vote depends on Democrats
The Senate will hold a cloture vote at 2:15 p.m. ET on 15 September. The motion requires 60 votes to advance the bill. Republicans hold 53 seats, so at least seven Democrats would have to vote yes.
Lummis said last week that failing to act this Congress would push the legislation to 2030.
Prediction market Kalshi priced the odds of passage at 44% after the text’s release, up from 18% earlier.
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