"Will be passed within the year even if Democrats oppose"…Republicans signal intent to push ahead with the CLARITY Act

John Boozman, the Republican chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, signaled strong determination to pass the digital asset market structure bill (the CLARITY Act) within this year despite fierce Democratic opposition.

According to CNBC on the 5th (local time), Boozman said in an interview last Tuesday, "The committee passage has created momentum to move the bill," adding, "I am strongly confident we can bring about Senate agreement within this year."

Earlier, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a full committee meeting on the 29th of last month and approved the digital asset market structure bill. It initially sought a bipartisan agreement with Democrats including Sen. Cory Booker, but negotiations collapsed at the last minute and the bill moved forward under Republican leadership.

The main reason for the breakdown in talks was President Trump's involvement in digital asset (cryptocurrency) businesses. Democrats argued that President Trump is pursuing private gain through digital asset projects such as World Liberty Financial, and said the bill should include ethics provisions barring senior public officials from holding digital assets and engaging in for-profit activities.

At the hearing, Booker left the negotiating table after sharply criticizing the situation, saying, "It's ridiculous that the president is personally going into the coin business to make money." Democrats proposed amendments including ▲banning public officials, including the president, from for-profit digital-asset activities ▲preventing fraud at digital-asset ATMs ▲blocking capital involvement by adversarial countries, but all were voted down.

While the bill has cleared the Agriculture Committee hurdle, obstacles remain before final enactment. For the legislation to be completed, a bill under the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee must also pass, but the Banking Committee has indefinitely postponed its review, which had been scheduled for the 15th of last month, due to opposition from the digital-asset industry. Differences between the industry and lawmakers have not narrowed over issues such as allowing interest on stablecoins.

At a closed-door meeting held on the 3rd and chaired by Patrick Witt, President Trump's digital-asset adviser, the issue reportedly sparked a heated exchange between the banking sector and digital-asset executives. With both sides deadlocked, the White House stepped in to mediate. The White House is said to have told participants at the meeting to "produce a compromise on the stablecoin rewards issue by the end of this month."

Immediately after the meeting, banking-sector participants said in a joint statement that "ensuring the safety of the financial system is the top priority," a general position, while Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, called it "important progress toward bipartisan legislation."

On this, Boozman said, "The stablecoin rewards issue is a major point of contention, with both sides having valid concerns," adding, "Neither side can be 100% satisfied, but we are working to find a level of compromise both can accept."