Democrats walk out of crypto hearing after tense moments

Several House Democrats walked out of a hearing on cryptocurrency legislation Tuesday, after Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) objected over concerns about President Trump’s recent ventures in the digital asset industry. 

Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sought to block the joint hearing between the panel and the House Agriculture Committee with her objection, sparking several tense minutes between lawmakers. 

House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) slammed the move by the ranking member, accusing Waters of throwing a partisan wedge into bipartisan efforts to hash out market structure legislation for digital assets. 

“Today, the ranking member has expressed concern about the conflicts of interest, which is why she's disrupted today’s joint hearing,” Hill said Tuesday. “Through her actions today, the ranking member has thrown partisanship into what has historically been a strong, good working bipartisan relationship.” 

He argued that Waters had received “ample notice” about the joint hearing, noting that they had negotiated witnesses, determined a seating chart and discussed opening statements. 

“That's a loss for our committees, the House and the public at large, though most of us that remain in this room will not sit idly by and abandon the urgent work we have before us that our committees have set out to do,” Hill added.  

Given the need for unanimous consent, lawmakers could not continue with an official joint hearing. However, House Republicans, as well as some Democrats, opted to remain and hold a more informal roundtable with the witnesses, who had already assembled in the hearing room. 

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Digital Assets Subcommittee, sought to lay out Democrats’ concerns with Trump’s recent crypto moves. 

However, he was cut off, as Republicans attempted to recognize Waters' objection and move forward with their roundtable. 

“It’s too bad for the ranking member that this is not a hearing,” Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said. “If it was a hearing, the ranking member would be protected by House rules.” 

Several House Democrats left the hearing room as the roundtable got underway to hold a separate hearing on Trump’s crypto ties.  

As the president and his family have increasingly expanded their crypto portfolio, Democratic lawmakers and outside observers have voiced concerns about potential conflicts of interest.  

Most recently, the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, announced that its new stablecoin would be used by Emirati firm MGX to conduct a $2 billion transaction with crypto exchange Binance. 

Lynch, who had an opportunity to finish his remarks once the roundtable began, highlighted concerns about the newly unveiled deal. 

“I understand crypto. I understand the other issues here,” he said. “But this is a mechanism by which other people outside, foreign interests can actually influence our president. Not just this one, but in the future as well.” 

The Digital Assets ranking member remained at the hearing, alongside a handful of other Democrats, including Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee.  

Craig emphasized the importance of Tuesday’s discussion on market structure legislation while also backing up her Democratic colleagues’ concerns. 

“This is a really important conversation,” Craig said. “I'm here because I think we need to be engaged and part of the discussion to agree on the rules of the road as they relate to crypto. It isn't going away, and we have a responsibility to be here and be part of the solution.” 

“It's important, and it's legitimate to call out the self-dealing from the Trump administration related to hawking meme coins from the White House," she continued. "It's corrupt. It's wrong, and it makes this process of coming together to regulate crypto more partisan than it needs to be.”