Lawmakers on the Agriculture panel are nearing a draft deal on its portion of a sweeping crypto bill.
Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) plan to speak on a call Wednesday afternoon with White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks as the lawmakers look to finalize a discussion draft of the Ag Committee’s portion of a cryptocurrency market structure bill, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Booker is expected to press Sacks, a venture capitalist who hosts the popular “All In” podcast, about whether the Trump administration plans to appoint Democratic commissioners to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said one of the people, who, like the other person, was granted anonymity to discuss unannounced plans. The senator also plans to raise the Trump family’s business entanglements in digital assets, which is a major concern for some Democrats involved in the negotiations over the crypto bill.
Lawmakers on the Agriculture panel — which is responsible for the portions of the bill dealing with the CFTC — are nearing a draft deal on its portion of the bill. Booker is leading negotiations with Republicans on the committee over the issue.
Boozman told reporters on Tuesday to expect a discussion draft “soon, in the next few weeks.” Ag Committee staff are hoping to release a draft by Friday, though it could slip into the following week.
Boozman said the committee will produce one bipartisan draft, but added that “there’ll probably be some areas that we don’t totally agree on, and those will be highlighted.” The language still under negotiation is expected to be bracketed in the text.
Some lawmakers on the panel remain skeptical. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said in an interview that he is “still concerned that crypto is used by a lot of criminals.”
“They need to help me understand how we’re going to know our customers better and how we can not let it be such a tool for organized crime,” he said.
Negotiators on the Senate Banking Committee say they, too, are making progress toward a deal — a major shift from just a few weeks ago, when the effort appeared to be on ice.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who chairs a Senate Banking crypto subcommittee, said staff-level talks have been “very productive.”
“They’re lengthy, they’re ongoing and the spirit of the negotiations is one of real camaraderie in terms of finding language that both parties can agree on,” she said.