Senator Gallego to Work with Republicans on CLARITY Act Ethics Counterproposal

Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego says he will be working with Republicans to come up with a counterproposal to White House-approved ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act, saying the draft released this week was “not a serious effort.”

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans released the proposed text for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, including language on ethics that would bar all US federal officials — including US President Donald Trump — from issuing or sponsoring any digital asset. Democrats said the ethics provisions fall short.

“Whatever piece of s--- they sent back to us, that was not a serious effort,” Senator Ruben Gallego told Politico on Thursday.

“I can’t imagine that that’s a serious effort — after all the work that we’ve done with our Republican colleagues, that they would take the months and months of work and somehow interpret that and turn around and think what they offered was even remotely close.”

Senate Republicans have rejected the idea that the ethics provisions are weak, with Senator Bernie Moreno describing the draft as containing “the most powerful ethics language in US history.”

Gallego said he would work with Senator Thom Tillis and other Republicans on a counterproposal.

“We are still in this fight,” Gallego told Politico. “We are going to send back language.”