House Democrats Boycott Crypto Hearing Over Trump’s Ties

According to a report by Politico on May 6, 2025, a Democratic aide with direct knowledge of the matter revealed that Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, plans to oppose a Republican-led joint congressional hearing on cryptocurrency policy scheduled for Tuesday, effectively preventing the session from proceeding. The aide, authorized to discuss the unannounced issue anonymously, confirmed that Waters and House Democrats will walk out of the hearing and hold a separate “shadow hearing” to investigate potential conflicts of interest involving President Donald Trump and his family’s cryptocurrency ventures, including the $TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty Financial.

The GOP-led hearing, titled “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets,” was planned as a joint session between the House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees, chaired by Representative French Hill (R-Ark.). It aimed to discuss a draft digital asset market structure bill introduced on May 5, 2025, which proposes regulatory roles for the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in overseeing cryptocurrencies. Waters intends to withhold unanimous consent required for joint hearings, conditioning Democratic participation on provisions to prevent Trump from profiting through crypto ventures. Hill did not respond to this condition, but a spokesperson for Hill told The Block, “Since the last Congress, we’ve had productive bipartisan, bicameral discussions on market structure legislation. We encourage the Ranking Member to attend tomorrow’s hearing to express her views and reconsider her decision to object.”

In lieu of attending, Democrats, led by Waters, will convene a shadow hearing to examine Trump’s crypto activities. The Democratic staffer said that this hearing will focus on ethical concerns, particularly Trump’s planned private dinners for top $TRUMP memecoin holders on May 22, 2025, at the White House. The investigation will also scrutinize World Liberty Financial, a Trump family-backed firm that launched the USD1 stablecoin, used in a $2 billion transaction settlement with Binance.

Trump’s expanding role in the crypto sector has drawn significant attention. World Liberty Financial, founded by Trump and his sons, has gained prominence with its USD1 stablecoin, which facilitated the $2 billion Binance transaction. The $TRUMP memecoin, with 80% of its token supply controlled by the Trump Organization and its affiliates, has raised concerns about anonymous transfers potentially bypassing anti-corruption laws, according to Democratic critics. The White House dinners, offered as perks for memecoin holders, have intensified allegations of ethical violations.

This is not the first time the Trump family has faced criticism over crypto-related profit conflicts. In April, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) called for Trump’s impeachment, stating, “When the sitting president of the United States is selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him, there is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense.” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), crypto-supportive Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and at least one other Republican in Congress have also criticized Trump’s provision of dinners and White House tours for top $TRUMP memecoin holders.

Trump has denied profiting from his presidency or cryptocurrency ventures. In a May 4, interview with NBC News journalist Kristen Welker, Trump said he has supported crypto since before his election but has not profited from it, claiming he “hasn’t even looked” at the $TRUMP memecoin’s price. He stated he knows little about profits from crypto projects like $TRUMP, comparing his potential gains to stock market investments: “If I own stock in something and I do a good job, and the stock market goes up, I guess I’m profiting.” Trump further argued that politicians like Nancy Pelosi, who have used insider information for stock trading, represent true conflicts of interest.

Despite the controversies, Democratic efforts to impeach Trump face significant hurdles, given the Republican majority in both the House and Senate as of May 2025. This political reality may explain why Democratic lawmakers, led by Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), are leveraging their participation in a House Financial Services Committee hearing on digital assets to push for legislative clarity. The hearing, set to discuss a draft cryptocurrency bill, requires unanimous consent from committee members to proceed. Waters and other Democrats are using their attendance as leverage to demand provisions that restrict Trump’s ability to personally profit from crypto ventures, citing potential conflicts of interest.

Democratic senators have also recently expressed concerns about a proposed stablecoin regulation bill, stating that the current version contains unresolved issues and lacks their support. In April 2025, Waters criticized the House Financial Services Committee’s actions, stating, “This Committee voted to make Trump the King of Crypto by passing legislation that lets him corner the market on stablecoins, kick George Washington off the dollar, and make his own stablecoin U.S. legal tender. Instead of stopping this grift, you are enabling it. Mr. Chairman, we need to stop Trump before we take any further steps on crypto legislation.”