Bipartisan talks on the CLARITY Act’s ethics provisions resumed on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with negotiators working through the language that has become the bill’s final and most stubborn obstacle.
According to reporter Eleanor Terrett, lawmakers are also discussing DeFi provisions in parallel, but ethics remains the primary sticking point holding up the legislation. The two tracks are moving simultaneously, though insiders say the ethics question needs to close before anything else can.
A spokesperson for Senator Cynthia Lummis offered the clearest sign yet that a resolution may be close. Asked about the state of negotiations, the spokesperson said last week’s conversation between Lummis’s office and the White House went well, and that the ethics text expected to be released in the coming days will reflect that productive discussion.
Senator Bernie Moreno, who has been working alongside Lummis to reach an ethics agreement with the White House, confirmed the current proposal places the DOJ rather than state attorneys general in charge of enforcement. “But we’ll keep working from that floor to reach an agreement that holds us all accountable,” Alsobrooks said.
Alsobrooks’s continued support is not a formality. Her vote was one of the bipartisan signals that gave the bill momentum in committee, and losing it would complicate the path to the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the legislation on the Senate floor.
Where Things Stand
Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a cautiously optimistic read when asked about the bill’s prospects on Friday. “I think there’s a good chance, knock on wood, that they’ll strike something that we can get the votes for to get it on the floor,” he told reporters, while adding that the situation could change within hours.
His candour captured the mood on Capitol Hill accurately. Progress is being made. The finish line is visible. But the final yards remain the hardest.
The window before the August recess is narrowing. If ethics text lands in the coming days as Lummis’s office indicated, negotiators will have a limited number of legislative days to review, amend and advance the bill before the Senate breaks.