CLARITY Act Faces GOP Split as Tillis Demands Ethics Clause

• Senator Tillis says no ethics language on Trump crypto means he votes against the CLARITY ACT.
• Trump family crypto holdings exceed one billion dollars, including World Liberty Financial.
• Democrats want a ban on federal employees sponsoring, endorsing, or issuing digital assets.

The CLARITY ACT just hit a serious obstacle from within the Republican Party itself. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a senior Senate Banking Committee member actively involved in negotiations, has issued a direct warning to his own side. 

“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 said, according to reports.

Republicans cannot pass the CLARITY ACT without Democratic support and cannot afford to lose votes from their own caucus. Tillis has turned what was a background negotiation into a public condition, significantly raising the stakes heading into May’s expected markup.

The Trump Family Problem

The ethics dispute centers directly on the Trump family’s expanding crypto portfolio, estimated at over $1 billion. The holdings include World Liberty Financial, a stablecoin called USD1, a Trump-branded memecoin, and broader digital asset ambitions through Trump Media and Technology Group.

Democrats argue that passing light-touch crypto regulation while the president’s family profits from the industry is a straightforward conflict of interest. Senator Ruben Gallego, broadly supportive of the legislation, has matched Tillis’s firmness from the other side of the aisle.

“There is no final bill, there is no final movement, unless there is a bipartisan agreement when it comes to the ethics provision,” Gallego said.

Senator Adam Schiff, leading Democratic negotiations alongside Gallego, said talks are finally progressing after months of deadlock, with both sides narrowing their differences. Democrats want a ban on federal employees, including the president, sponsoring, endorsing, or issuing digital assets.

Negotiations are being managed on the Republican side by Senators Lummis and Moreno alongside White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt.

However, adding ethics provisions is not straightforward. The Senate Banking Committee, which is handling the bill, does not directly control ethics rules, meaning any such provisions would need to be added separately before a full Senate vote. 

The Clock Is Running

With midterms approaching and the legislative window narrowing, both parties know failure is costly. Tillis has made his position clear. The question now is whether the White House will move far enough on ethics to keep the bill alive.

Related: Galaxy CEO Says Trump Could Sign  CLARITY ACT in June