Rep. Maxine Waters Plans to Walk Out of Cryptocurrency Policy Hearing to Hold a 'Shadow Hearing'

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a key Democrat and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, is reportedly planning to disrupt a joint hearing on cryptocurrency policy scheduled for Tuesday.

What Happened: Waters intends to walk out with at least several Financial Services Democrats and hold a “shadow hearing” on President Donald Trump’s family’s involvement in the cryptocurrency industry, Politico reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The hearing is scheduled a day after House Republicans presented a draft of the landmark cryptocurrency regulation that proposed a division of oversight of digital assets between market regulators.

Waters had previously voiced her objections to House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) over the weekend, insisting on a provision in the legislation that would address the Trump family’s cryptocurrency endeavors.

"I'm not interested in continuing this discussion until we have an amendment to address the Trump family's involvement in crypto, which is a critical issue for many Americans," said one Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

A spokesperson for Water’s office didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that he was open to amending the legislation.

"Changes can be made on the floor for sure," Thune said. "I think there's an effort to try to get this done."

Why It Matters: Waters’ planned disruption is part of a broader Democratic pushback against cryptocurrency legislation favored by Republicans.

Earlier, a faction of Senate Democrats expressed their opposition to Republican-led stablecoin legislation, citing the absence of provisions like anti-money laundering, foreign issuers and national security.

The Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures, including the Official Trump TRUMP / USD meme coin and the USD1 stablecoin, have been a major point of contention, leading to increased scrutiny and calls for regulatory oversight.