Trump called on the Senate to advance the CLARITY Act in a post on Truth Social, putting fresh attention on a crypto market structure bill with only four weeks left before the chamber enters the August state work period. That narrow timeline has turned the remaining session into a key stretch for digital asset legislation.
The bill would shift primary oversight from the SEC to the CFTC
According to the source material, the CLARITY Act would move primary authority over digital asset oversight from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC is the federal agency that regulates derivatives and futures markets, including certain parts of the digital asset sector. A change like that would matter for how tokens are classified and which regulator takes the lead over crypto markets.
Trump described the late Senator Lindsey Graham as an important supporter of the bill and urged the Senate to press ahead. The available record in the source, though, shows Graham was not a member of the Senate banking or agriculture committees in the current Congress and did not take part in any votes advancing the CLARITY Act.
Public record shows support for GENIUS Act, not a direct CLARITY endorsement
Graham had served in the Senate since 2003. The source says he voted for the GENIUS Act in 2025, the stablecoin bill formally titled the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act. At the same time, it notes that he had not made public statements specifically backing the CLARITY Act. That leaves a gap between Trump’s description and the public evidence cited in the report.
Senator Cynthia Lummis backed Trump’s call in a post on X and praised Graham’s commitment to keeping the United States at the front of digital innovation. She said he was passionate about making sure American leadership stayed at the forefront, including in digital assets. Even so, the report says no statement had been received from Lummis’ office clarifying Graham’s precise position on the CLARITY Act or on digital assets more broadly.
Senate math tightened and bipartisan support matters more
After Graham’s death and Senator Mitch McConnell’s hospitalization, the Republican majority in the Senate narrowed to 51-47. Before Graham’s death, the balance stood at 52-48. The shift is small on paper. It still carries weight for a bill that needs a broader coalition to move.
The source says the legislation requires at least 60 votes to advance, which leaves Republicans short of the threshold on their own. That puts pressure on supporters to win Democratic votes. Several Democratic senators have already objected unless the bill addresses possible conflicts of interest between lawmakers and the crypto sector. The concerns cited in the report include Trump’s ties to digital asset projects, his memecoin, and his family’s involvement with World Liberty Financial.
Senators Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Angela Alsobrooks were among those contacted for comment, but no immediate responses were issued on Trump’s remarks. For now, the path of the CLARITY Act runs through a short legislative window and a Senate that no longer has much room for error.