Bitcoin Magazine

White House Crypto Chief Patrick Witt to Begin Military Leave as Clarity Act Nears Senate Deadline

Patrick Witt, the White House’s top crypto adviser, will begin a months-long leave of absence this month to report for training with the Georgia Army National Guard, according to a report from Crypto in America. 

His departure arrives as the Senate works to advance the Clarity Act before its August recess.

Witt, 37, is expected to conclude his White House work next Friday before reporting on July 27 to the Guard’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) program. Completion of the training qualifies him to serve as a JAG officer, a military attorney who advises on military justice and operational and administrative law. Witt and the White House did not respond to Crypto in America’s requests for comment.

Witt took over as executive director of the White House crypto council last August, after Bo Hines left the post for a role at stablecoin issuer Tether. He spent two years at the Defense Department before the appointment. 

Sources told Crypto in America that Witt applied to the JAG program last spring and postponed an April start date to remain at the White House as Clarity Act talks stretched on. A second postponement was not an option.

Witt’s absence and the current Clarity Act status

The timing carries weight for the Clarity Act, the crypto industry’s market structure bill, which would divide oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC. The measure cleared the House in July 2025 by a 294-134 vote and advanced from the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 margin. 

Senate leaders aim to open floor debate before Congress breaks on August 7, a window many policy observers view as the last chance for passage this Congress.

As executive director, Witt served as the administration’s chief negotiator on the bill. He led talks with lawmakers and industry stakeholders over its most contested provisions, including a compromise on stablecoin yield, disputes over ethics language, and concerns from law enforcement groups about developer protections.

The ethics provisions remain among the bill’s largest obstacles. Lawmakers continue to negotiate guardrails addressing President Trump’s crypto business interests, after disclosures showed he earned more than $1 billion from crypto ventures last year. 

Prediction market Polymarket prices 2026 passage near 48 percent, down from 74 percent a month earlier.

In Witt’s absence, crypto council deputy director Harry Jung is expected to assume his duties. Jung worked alongside Witt over the past year and sat in on many of the same negotiations, a factor sources cited as a measure of continuity. Witt intends to stay involved during training, though his full-time return remains unconfirmed.

Beyond the Clarity Act, Witt has directed the administration’s rollout of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and its work on the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law enacted in July 2025, along with efforts to revise the tax treatment of digital assets.

This post White House Crypto Chief Patrick Witt to Begin Military Leave as Clarity Act Nears Senate Deadline first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

‘Don’t Let China Win’: President Trump Presses Senate on Clarity Act in Final Stretch

The Senate returns to Washington on July 13, with the clock running down on the most consequential piece of crypto legislation in years. Lawmakers now have roughly four weeks to schedule, debate, and pass the CLARITY Act before the August recess. 

President Trump weighed in directly on Monday, posting on Truth Social that “in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, a big supporter, the U.S. Senate should pass the Clarity Act” and warning that China and other countries “would like to take complete and total control of this major financial ‘happening,'” as well as A.I. 

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt amplified the urgency, noting the critical week coincides with the one-year anniversary of the GENIUS Act and cautioning, “We cannot afford to delay any longer.”

This is a window many policy watchers see as the last realistic chance to enact comprehensive digital-asset market structure legislation this Congress.

The CLARITY Act would draw a firm regulatory line between the SEC and the CFTC, granting the commodities regulator exclusive jurisdiction over spot markets for “digital commodities” while leaving the SEC to oversee investment-contract assets. 

It cleared the House in July 2025 by a bipartisan 294–134 vote and advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 margin, with two Democrats joining all Republicans. 

Those committee votes, however, came with warnings that floor support was not guaranteed.

This week’s milestone is the release of updated text merging the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committee versions, the clearest signal yet of what survived negotiations and what remains unsettled. 

JUST IN: President Trump says "The U.S. Senate should pass the Clarity Act." pic.twitter.com/9Y7VxKZ3ck

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 13, 2026

Clarity Act issues remain 

The bill missed the July 4 signing ceremony that White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt had targeted, and while meetings ran through the recess, the thorniest issues remain unresolved, according to Crypto in America. Getting to 60 votes may prove harder than getting this far, and with the Republican conference shrinking, Democratic buy-in matters more than ever.

Chief among them is the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, folded into the CLARITY Act as Section 604, which would shield non-custodial software developers from being treated as money transmitters. 

Law enforcement groups argue the language, as written, would hamper investigations into on-chain crime, and Democratic support may hinge on revisions.

An ethics standoff

The more explosive fight is over ethics. Negotiators have yet to reach a CLARITY Act deal with the White House on guardrails around conflicts of interest tied to President Trump’s crypto ventures, after disclosures showed he earned more than $1 billion from crypto-related businesses last year. 

House members have pressed the Senate to act while addressing those concerns, and a coalition of more than 200 companies has urged leadership to bring the bill to the floor. The coalition argued that the bill would establish a clear federal framework for digital assets and help keep innovation in the U.S.

Complicating the math, the death of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and the continued absence of Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leave Republicans with almost no room for error in reaching 60 votes.

Sentiment is split. Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith says momentum is building and a floor vote before recess remains achievable, echoing CFTC leadership calling the bill “so close.” 

Others are wary: Galaxy Digital cut its passage odds to 50-50, citing the shrinking calendar and competing priorities like the NDAA. The firm said the legislation still faces procedural hurdles, unresolved ethics and developer-protection disputes, and a crowded Senate agenda that could delay consideration until September. Galaxy said the odds would improve if Senate leaders commit to a July vote. Odds were as high as 70% earlier this year.

The next four weeks may be CLARITY’s last chance in the 119th Congress.

This post ‘Don’t Let China Win’: President Trump Presses Senate on Clarity Act in Final Stretch first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.