Tillis and Gallego Reportedly Finish New Clarity Act Ethics Language With Days Left Before Recess

Two senators have reportedly completed a rewrite of the Clarity Act’s conflict-of-interest section, but nobody outside the room has seen it and the Senate is nearly out of time.

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Posted July 30, 2026 at 6:36 am EST.

The Clarity Act‘s path through the Senate may now turn on language that most of Congress has yet to see. Senators Thom Tillis, a Republican, and Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, have finished their rewrite of the bill’s conflict-of-interest section, indicating they found new common ground, according to CoinDesk. It is unclear who has read the text, CoinDesk reported late Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The section would bar senior government officials from direct ties to cryptocurrency projects, a provision written with President Donald Trump‘s crypto business empire in mind. Trump agreed last week to ethics constraints that Democratic opponents faulted for saddling enforcement to a Justice Department run by his own appointees. The push for tougher language has intensified after a disclosure showed the Trump family cleared more than $1.4 billion from crypto in 2025.

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Beyond the ethics fight, the Clarity Act faces resistance over illicit-finance provisions affecting DeFi developers and stablecoin rewards programs.

The clock is also ticking. Senate Majority John Thune said in a Tuesday Fox News interview that the Senate will probably vote on the Clarity Act before the August recess, while cautioning that it depends on whether Democrats supply the votes. Cloture, the procedure that sets up a floor vote, requires multiple votes plus a 30-hour debate period.

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.