Trump Discusses CLARITY Act Ethics Proposal Ahead of Key Senate Vote

Highlights:

• Trump met advisers over a bipartisan crypto ethics proposal as the CLARITY Act nears a Senate vote.
• The talks focused on a Tillis-Gallego plan, but no agreement has been announced after Trump’s meeting.
• Supporters need 60 votes on September 15, keeping ethics negotiations central to the bill’s next step.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with advisers to discuss a new ethics proposal tied to the CLARITY Act, just days before the Senate takes up the major crypto market structure bill. POLITICO congressional reporter Jasper Goodman reported the development on September 13. According to Goodman, Trump discussed the proposal with advisers on Friday, September 11. However, it remains unclear whether the meeting produced an agreement.

The talks focused on an ethics proposal from Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego. The issue has become one of the biggest obstacles facing the CLARITY Act as lawmakers try to gather enough votes to move the legislation forward.

NEWS: President Donald Trump met with advisers on Friday to discuss ethics language under consideration for the Clarity Act

Unclear what came out of the discussion. Comes ahead of a Senate floor vote set for Tuesday on the crypto billhttps://t.co/IumqSEUbX9

— Jasper Goodman (@Jasper_Goodman) September 13, 2026

Trump Weighs New CLARITY Act Ethics Deal

The ethics fight mainly concerns the crypto activities of senior government officials. Democrats have pushed for tougher conflict-of-interest rules before supporting the wider crypto bill. Tillis and Gallego have been working on a bipartisan compromise to break that deadlock.

Their proposal would go further than earlier White House-backed language. It would allow state attorneys general to help enforce restrictions on public officials and their spouses issuing or sponsoring digital assets. The proposal has also included stronger divestment requirements for crypto-related business interests. Gallego said in August that stronger ethics rules were needed to build the support required in the Senate.

“The way to get to 60 votes is good ethics legislation as well as rounding out some of the things that are still outstanding on the other side of this,” he said. Trump has now personally discussed the latest proposal, but no public agreement has been announced. Goodman said it was “unclear what came out of the discussion.”

Senate Republicans Recently Updated the CLARITY Act

The White House meeting came shortly after Senate Republicans released another updated version of the CLARITY Act. The latest 630-page text, released on September 10, added several changes requested during recent negotiations. One major update deals with decentralized finance, or DeFi.

Under the revised language, crypto trading protocols that are not truly decentralized could face Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration requirements and Bank Secrecy Act rules. The changes focus on people or groups that still control a protocol even when it operates through blockchain technology. The draft also narrows some DeFi provisions to digital commodity spot and cash transactions. In addition, it gives credit unions clearer authority to offer certain digital asset services.

🚨NEW: Senate Republicans have released updated Clarity Act text reflecting changes negotiated over the August recess.

There appear to be no changes to the ethics section. BRCA and stablecoin yield sections also remain the same.

The changes here include:

📌Requiring… pic.twitter.com/cYIlr2VsLG

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 10, 2026

However, several difficult issues remain. The latest draft did not settle the fight over ethics rules or stablecoin yield provisions. Those areas are still central to negotiations before the Senate vote.

CLARITY Act Faces September 15 Senate Test

The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act on Tuesday, September 15. The vote is not a final vote on the bill. Senators will first vote on cloture for the motion to proceed, which would allow the Senate to move ahead with debate.

Supporters need 60 votes to clear that hurdle. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, so the bill needs Democratic support even if nearly every Republican backs it. Meanwhile, both the crypto industry and banking groups have stepped up lobbying ahead of the vote. Crypto groups want clearer federal rules, while some banking organizations and lawmakers remain concerned about stablecoin rules, bank deposits, money laundering safeguards and ethics protections.

Trump’s September 11 meeting therefore comes at a critical point for the legislation. Whether the White House and Senate negotiators can reach an ethics compromise could play an important role in determining whether the CLARITY Act gets enough support to move forward.