Should Democrats reclaim a House majority in November's midterms, subpoenaing President Donald Trump's financial records and cryptocurrency dealings is expected to become the chamber's top priority. Meanwhile, the crypto industry's flagship market-structure legislation, the CLARITY Act, could face an even longer delay than stakeholders have anticipated—compounding an already difficult legislative environment for digital-asset regulation in the United States.

Democratic House Majority and Trump Oversight

Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is widely expected to take the gavel if Democrats win the November midterms. He has described the corruption surrounding the presidency as "a civic emergency" and stated that a Democratic majority would enable his party to "call hearings, conduct depositions, use subpoenas to compel the appearance of witnesses."

Raskin's list of potential targets includes Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom he has already threatened to subpoena over the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He also intends to seek answers regarding a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund designated for Trump allies, as well as alleged violations of the foreign emoluments clause.

President Trump reported more than $1 billion in crypto-related income for 2025. His 927-page financial disclosure, filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, shows he earned approximately $635 million in royalties from "Celebration Coins," which are linked to his $TRUMP memecoin business. More than $500 million of the reported income was attributed to sales by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company co-founded by members of the Trump family. The scale of these earnings—unprecedented for a sitting president—has amplified concerns among ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers about the intersection of public office and private crypto ventures.

Representative Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat from Arizona, has already requested that the House Oversight Committee subpoena the president's 20-year-old son, Barron, over the family's ties to jailed influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate. Ansari stated on a podcast that "Barron Trump is an adult and someone who exerts considerable influence around the White House." Barron is a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, and his crypto holdings are estimated at approximately $150 million. The subpoena request remains frozen while Republicans control the gavel.

Why the CLARITY Act Remains Stalled

The CLARITY Act, legislation that crypto firms have spent the year advocating for, is currently stuck in the Senate. The bill would establish a clearer regulatory framework distinguishing digital-asset securities from digital commodities, allocating primary oversight authority to the CFTC for tokens deemed commodities—a structural change the industry argues is essential to reducing enforcement uncertainty and keeping blockchain innovation onshore. Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed that the chamber would not vote on the bill before the August recess, pushing the earliest possible action to September 14.

Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, falling short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster, meaning the bill requires meaningful Democratic support to advance. However, Democrats have refused to back the legislation until it addresses conflicts of interest tied to the president's crypto holdings. A group of roughly a dozen Democrats has signaled willingness to support the bill, but they are pushing for an ethics provision that would restrict Trump's ability to profit from his family's crypto businesses.

Senator Thom Tillis, a retiring North Carolina Republican, and Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, have collaborated on a counteroffer that includes a divestment requirement for Trump. It remains unclear whether the White House and other Republicans will accept it. The standoff reflects a broader tension in this Congress: market-structure reform that once attracted bipartisan interest has become entangled with questions of presidential ethics, leaving the industry's top legislative priority in limbo even as firms continue pouring money into shaping the outcome.

In early August, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal asked the SEC to investigate whether the $TRUMP memecoin constituted an "illegal scam" and a possible "rug pull." They noted that nearly one million investors lost over $3.8 billion on the coin, while Trump himself earned $636 million.

Cryptocurrency, AI, and Big Tech companies collectively spent $294 million on this election cycle's races, accounting for more than half of all corporate outside spending, according to Data for Progress.

Polymarket places the odds of the CLARITY Act passing within the year at approximately 38%, down from above 80%. Odds are even lower on Kalshi, where the chance of passage in 2026 sits at roughly 20%.