Sen. Thom Tillis is drawing a second red line, vowing to vote against the Clarity Act without ethics language targeting the Trump family’s crypto businesses.
The Republican broke ranks just days after lifting his hold on Kevin Warsh’s Fed chair confirmation. That blockade ended Sunday only after the Justice Department dropped its criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Negotiations Inch Toward a Bipartisan Deal
Tillis is the first Senate Banking Republican to publicly demand ethics language in the bill. He joined Democratic negotiators pushing a provision aimed at the Trump family’s crypto holdings.
The proposed text would bar federal officials, including the president, from sponsoring or issuing digital assets. This is what the retiring North Carolina senator demands.
Sens. Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego are leading Democratic talks on the ethics provision. White House crypto policy adviser Patrick Witt is steering negotiations alongside GOP Sens. Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno.
Schiff said the parties are narrowing their differences as other parts of the bill come together. Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee aim to advance the legislation in the coming weeks.
“There has to be ethics language in the bill before it leaves the Senate, or I’ll go from one of the people working on negotiating it to voting against it,” Tillis reportedly told Politico.
Trump Crypto Empire Tops $1 Billion
The Trump family’s crypto ventures account for more than $1 billion of their wealth, according to Politico. World Liberty Financial, co-founded by Trump and his sons, launched the USD1 stablecoin and applied for a federal banking license.
An entity tied to the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin hosted nearly 300 top holders at a Mar-a-Lago conference Saturday.
Republicans face a narrow legislative window before the midterm elections. Tillis’s pattern of conditional votes shows how hard passage will be without a bipartisan ethics deal.
