Witt Blames Democrats for Politicising Negotiations White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt stepped up his defence of President Trump's cryptocurrency ties this week, days after the Senate fa
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt stepped up his defence of President Trump's cryptocurrency ties this week, days after the Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Speaking at the Financial Markets Quality conference hosted at Georgetown University, Witt argued that opposition from Democrats was driven by politics rather than policy.
"Democrats made it a political issue," Witt said, suggesting that Democratic senators were disingenuous given that a major housing bill recently passed without similarly scrutinising government ethics, despite Trump's background as a real-estate developer.
He also called the opposition "somewhat ironic," noting that senators on banking committees themselves hold and actively trade stocks in the financial companies they regulate.
The CLARITY Act fell at a cloture vote on September 15, 2026, failing to secure the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster and advance the bill. Only 49 senators voted yes, while 50 voted no, including all Democrats and four Republicans: Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis.
Witt argued that the president's cooperation throughout negotiations was unprecedented, stating that the White House went further on ethics than any prior administration. According to Witt, Trump agreed to two significant ethics provisions: a willingness to accept rules requiring either divestment of his crypto assets or their placement in a blind trust, and a concession that would allow state attorneys general to sue the federal government if it failed to address ethical violations.
Leading up to the vote, Democrats expressed frustration that Republican negotiators did not meet their demands on ethics to address profits gained from crypto ventures by Trump and his family. Trump has earned more than $1.4 billion from his family's crypto ventures.
Witt also took aim at the banking industry. He accused banking lobbyists of helping to sink the bill over concerns that stablecoin rewards would compete with interest-bearing bank deposits. The most recent draft of the bill had sought to address stablecoin-related concerns from the banking industry.
With the vote behind it, the crypto industry will likely have to wait until next year for the CLARITY Act to be taken up by Congress again. The Senate's failure to advance the bill leaves firms reliant on agency rules that a future administration could reverse.
Sources:CoinDesk: White House adviser defends Trump's crypto ties after Clarity Act defeatCNBC: Senate cloture vote on Clarity Act failsNPR: Crypto suffers major defeat as Senate rejects Clarity Act
