- The Committee has just passed its part of the Clarity Act out of committee on a strict party-line vote, with zero Democrats voting in favor of it.
The US Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced its portion of the Crypto Market Structure legislation out of Committee on a tight party line basis, with no Democrats endorsing it. In Thursday’s highly partisan vote, 12 Republicans voted for the bill, while 11 Democrats opposed it.
The Committee Chair, John Boozman at the start of the markup stated that both parties had made significant progress towards reaching a bipartisan deal and expected the hearing to sail through without many hurdles.
However, the top Democrat in the Committee, Senator Amy Jean Klobuchar, pointed out that there was still more work to be done and key issues that needed to be tackled, including ethical matters, prohibition of public office holders and market participants, and CFTC governance structure.
A few other Democrats highlighted the draft’s deviation from a previous version from last year, citing that the policy direction of the markup document deviated significantly from the former. They took turns to express their disagreement with President Trump’s alleged direct involvement with crypto trading and deals.
One Democrat also expressed their concern about the White House’s involvement amid negotiations and their seeming insistence on getting away with all the requirements they want in the Senate Ag’s draft. Senator Adam Schiff must have foreseen the result of the markup when he predicted that it would “fall on party lines” if ethics controls didn’t cover the White House.
The first motion for amendment was to prevent all federal elected officials, federal candidates, and certain members of their families from issuing or endorsing digital assets. By extension, the amendment intended to block the said officials from devising new ways to trade their influence and enrich themselves.
Chair Boozman declined to support the amendment over jurisdictional concerns. “This has nothing to do with crypto,” the Chair said. “Our committee is the Ag committee, and as a result, this is way beyond our jurisdiction.” The Committee outvoted the amendment with an 11-12 party-line vote, with all Republicans against and all Democrats in favor of it.
Another Democrat amendment sought to block the Federal Reserve and Treasury from granting the crypto industry a “taxpayer-funded bailout.” The Committee also voted it down 11-12 along party lines. However, Tuberville later withdrew this amendment.
A second GOP amendment proposed the prohibition of digital commodity platforms from “conducting substantial amounts of business, or maintaining critical infrastructure” within the jurisdiction of their competitors. This proposal was not accepted.
Ultimately, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed its portion of the market structure bill along party lines 12-11. Chair Boozman described the advancement as a “critical step towards creating clear rules for digital asset markets” and remains keen on following up with efforts to deliver market structure legislation.
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