A group of Democratic senators said in a statement Wednesday evening that the bill still fell “not short” of what it should have been to gain their support, but that they would continue to work 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 crypto businesses largely intact, and that any inappropriate activity would be ignored by his loyal Justice Department and then legally protected from prosecution once he leaves office.
Other outstanding questions
Beyond ethics, lawmakers could continue to negotiate the illicit financing provisions, Lummis said.
“We think we’ve landed in the right place,” she said, as the effort addresses bank secrecy law, anti-money laundering protections, sanctions coverage for exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Some of the new additions were made at the request of law enforcement, such as a provision addressing crypto automated teller machine (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 cooperate with law enforcement, she said.
The text also includes a provision that “Congress believes that at least two of the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be appointed in consultation with the minority party. Currently, neither agency has Democratic commissioners, with the SEC led by three Republicans, while the CFTC has only one commissioner leading the agency.
