Seven Senate Democrats who are among the most likely votes needed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act came out Wednesday with a joint statement calling the newest Republican draft insufficient. Senators Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock told CoinDesk that while they intend to keep negotiating, the bill as written "falls short" on several fronts: ethics rules for elected officials, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity.
The statement carries real weight. The bill needs 60 votes to clear the Senate, which means Republicans have to bring along roughly 10 Democrats. Alsobrooks and Gallego were the only two in this group who voted for the Clarity Act in committee, but the others have signaled openness to the legislation before, making their sign-off essential to any path forward.
Ethics clause at the center of the fight
Senate Republicans published the updated draft earlier the same day, and it included an ethics provision that the White House had signed off on. Senator Bernie Moreno, one of the bill's lead architects, went on X to call it "the most powerful ethics language in U.S. history" and told critics to stop listening to "DC Democrat lies." Democrats are clearly not convinced.
The ethics question has been hanging over crypto legislation for more than a year, dating back to the Senate's work on the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill. It sharpened considerably in recent weeks after President Trump's latest financial disclosure revealed he pulled in over $1.4 billion from his own crypto ventures in 2025, a figure that gave opponents fresh ammunition for demanding tougher conflict-of-interest language.
Timing is tight. The Senate breaks for summer recess after August 7, and Majority Leader John Thune's office confirmed to CoinDesk that he still plans to bring the bill to the floor in the coming days. The chamber has other items competing for floor time, and a cloture vote on a bill this contested is rarely quick. Democrats in the statement said they have been negotiating "in good faith" for a year and plan to keep doing so, which reads less like a breakthrough and more like a signal that another round of rewrites is coming.
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