When people believe the rules are rigged, trust in government declines.
Public trust is arduous to build and effortless to destroy. It disappears when elected officials appear to be using public office to enrich themselves, their families or their business partners. Therefore, ethical regulations are not a side issue. They are necessary for the functioning of democracy.
New financial assets, particularly cryptocurrency, have created modern opportunities for corruption and self-employment. Our laws need to catch up.
I sponsored cryptocurrency corruption legislation that recently passed the Pennsylvania House. But these protections are needed at every level of government.
Congress is currently considering the CLARITY Act, legislation that would establish federal rules for the cryptocurrency industry. But the bill doesn’t answer the most obvious ethical question: Should elected officials be able to profit from the industry while they write the laws to regulate it?
The answer should be no.
The Trump family has developed a enormous and growing financial interest in cryptocurrencies through digital asset companies, token offerings and related business partnerships. At the same time, the Trump administration and Congress are making decisions that could determine the future of the industry.
Regardless of your opinion on cryptocurrency or Donald Trumpthis is an obvious conflict of interest.
No president, member of Congress, cabinet official, or immediate family member should be able to make money from policies that person is responsible for creating, enforcing, or influencing. This standard should apply equally to Republicans and Democrats.
The risk is not theoretical. Before President Trump returned to office, a UAE-backed company poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a cryptocurrency venture linked to the Trump family. The administration later eased restrictions on the export of advanced artificial intelligence technology to the United Arab Emirates.
At the very least, this sequence of events raises earnest questions about whether American policy is shaped by the national interest or the private financial interests of those close to the president.
Congress should not ignore these questions.
The solution is elementary. The CLARITY Act should prohibit elected officials, senior executive appointees, and their immediate family members from owning, issuing, promoting, or profiting from cryptocurrency-related ventures while those officials are in office.
These rules should be clear, enforceable and apply to everyone.
Pennsylvania senators have an significant role to play. Senator John Fetterman he has repeatedly presented himself as someone willing to challenge powerful interests on behalf of working people. He should insist that significant ethics protections be included before the Senate takes a final vote.
Without these protections, he should oppose the bill.
The problem is bigger than cryptocurrency. The issue is whether Americans can trust that public officials write laws for the public, not themselves.
Ethics cannot be an afterthought added after the industry gets what it wants. Ethics must be the basis of law.
Until Congress closes the door on independent trade, the CLARITY Act is not ready to become law.
Rep. Ben Waxman represents the 182nd Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
