White House announces support for Sen Ted Cruz and Rep Mike Carey in Broker DeFi Rule appeal

According to an X post by Trump’s AI and Crypto Czar, David Sacks, earlier today, the White House supports Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Mike Carey in their bill to roll back the DeFi Broker law passed by the previous Biden administration. 

In January, Representative Mike Carey (OH-15) introduced a CRA resolution that would roll back the Internal Revenue Service’s controversial Digital Assets Sale and Exchanges Rule, also known as the IRS Broker Rule.

Rep Mike Carey poses for a photo with President Donald Trump on President’s Day, February 17. Source: Rep Mike Carey (X/Twitter)

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) gives Congress the chance to disapprove a final rule issued by a federal agency. If the rule is disapproved using the CRA mechanism, it becomes null. It also prevents the issuing agency from reissuing a “substantially similar” rule unless Congress passes legislation allowing it.

Carey believes it is necessary to challenge the Biden administration’s digital asset broker rule because it represents clear overreach from the IRS and, if enforced, could drive away innovation and investors.

Senator Ted Cruz echoed similar sentiments. “The Biden administration’s rule attempts to drive American cryptocurrency innovation overseas,” Sen. Cruz said. “This regulation undermines the purpose of DeFi technology: to enable individuals to freely buy, sell, and exchange digital assets. America’s goal should be to prioritize innovation, and this rule is the opposite. I call upon Congress to expeditiously take up this resolution, pass it, and send it to the President.”

Three industry groups: Blockchain Association, DeFi Education Fund, and the Texas Blockchain Council, challenged the IRS in court after the bill was formally introduced on December 27.

The White House supports the CRA

According to a tweet Trump’s crypto Czar David Sacks shared via his page earlier today, the White House supports Rep Carey and Sen Cruz with the CRA.

“The White House is pleased to announce its support for the CRA introduced by @SenTedCruz and @RepMikeCarey to rescind the so-called Broker DeFi Rule, an 11th-hour attack on the crypto community by the Biden administration,” Sacks wrote .

A picture of a circular from the Executive Office of the President was attached to the post.

AI and Crypto Czar to President Donald Trump, David Sacks shared a photo of a statement of the White House’s support for the CRA introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep Mike Carey to rescind the Broker DeFi Rule. Source: David Sacks (X/Twitter)

The statement also implied that the rollback of the rule puts American citizens first, a narrative that aligns with Trump’s agenda to revive an America that has fallen from its lofty position.

If the resolution reaches the president, the public release from the White House also claims the president will be advised to sign it by his senior advisors.

Should he eventually do that, it would be a win for the crypto industry and would attract innovation to the country.

Trump has been busy since he resumed office

The 47th president of the US and his GOP wasted no time as they took the helm of leadership on January 20, earlier this year. President Trump signed a number of executive orders on his first day in office, and while it took some time for his attention to turn to crypto, his early moves have moved and shaken the industry.

Some of the new provisions made under the new government include the creation of a working group composed of Cabinet officials, White House advisers, and others tasked with identifying regulations that address crypto and recommending whether they be changed.

The AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks will chair this working group and task the working group with evaluating a digital asset stockpile. There is also now a ban on any central bank digital currency and a revocation of former President Joe Biden’s executive order on crypto.

Trump has also announced Sacks as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Gary Gensler has stepped down as leader of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the agency is now operating under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda.

Uyeda has reportedly put together a crypto-focused task force headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce. He will serve in his present role until the Senate approves Paul Atkins, Trump’s pick to serve as the agency’s permanent chair.

The SEC has also been busy. One of the first things it did was to rescind Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which required publicly traded companies holding crypto for their clients to mark those holdings as liabilities on their balance sheets.

As for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it now operates under Acting Chair Caroline Pham who named CFTC Senior Policy Advisor Harry Jung as the regulator’s lead for crypto industry engagement.

In another win for the crypto industry, Trump also pardoned Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. He said on Truth Social that he did so “in honor of [Ulbricht’s mother] and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly.”

Ulbricht was witchhunted and convicted on criminal enterprise, narcotics distribution, and various conspiracy charges and would have spent the rest of his life in jail with no parole.

Late on Sunday, Trump also announced a crypto strategic reserve consisting of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies.

Altered photo of DOGE head, Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw. Source: Elon Musk (X/Twitter)

Like the SEC, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk, has also been very busy. Musk has used it to uncover excess government spending and has also been using it to strategically downsize the federal government.

It feels longer, but Donald Trump and his cabinet have only been in office for a few weeks. It still has almost four years to accomplish its goals regarding the crypto industry, but it continues to move with urgency.

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