Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York and HUD secretary, warns that US crypto rules may not survive the next election. Democrats have a 64% chance of taking the Senate, according to Kalshi, and that shift could reshape the regulatory landscape for digital assets.
Cuomo draws on his own history to sound the alarm. During his time at HUD in the Clinton administration, the 1994 midterm elections put Republicans in charge of both the House and Senate. That shift reduced the department’s authority. Oversight grew more intense, funding turned into a point of pressure, and Congress deployed every means at its command to test and limit what the administration could do.
“It’s what Congress does when it believes the executive branch has gone too far.”
What he outlines is a well-known sequence: Democrats will be eager to show that the Trump administration was corrupt, and that agency decisions were made to favor individuals personally and political donors together. These claims may or may not hold up, but they will shape the political conversation. That conversation, in turn, will determine how oversight unfolds.
The Tools Congress Holds
Many levers rest within Congress. Agencies must first submit new rules and regulations before they take effect, giving lawmakers a chance to weigh in. Funding for agency programs can be limited, legislation can override agency actions, or the Congressional Review Act can be used to repeal certain regulations.
They possess the authority to look into matters and compel people to appear, which, paired with public hearings, gives them real force. Consider Anthony Fauci and Jack Smith as examples of what that combination can do.
What Ambiguity Costs
The CLARITY Act did not succeed, and its failure has created doubt. That doubt harms business, harms investors, harms consumers and harms America.
Cuomo’s position is that businesses ought not need to speculate about whether the laws currently on the books will last beyond the next election. He says they should not have to base decisions about building and investing in the United States on which party runs Washington. Instead, he argues, they should have certainty: what is allowed, what is barred, who governs what, and how enforcement will proceed.
Why Other Countries Move Faster
Other countries are moving faster. Europe’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation and Singapore’s Payment Services Act provide regulatory certainty and set standards.
Cuomo makes the case that political gridlock should not decide the fate of financial innovation in the United States. His argument centers on the need for the next Congress to set aside partisan divisions, at least temporarily, and approve bipartisan legislation that backs digital asset activities.
The Problem With That Ask
The warning carries weight because Cuomo knows firsthand what he is talking about. His time at HUD demonstrated what can happen when a hostile Congress targets an agency.
The Sequence of What Could Happen
- Democrats take the Senate in November.
- The next Congress holds hearings and investigations targeting the Trump administration’s crypto policies.
- Legislation overrides or repeals existing crypto regulations.
- Funding for agency programs is limited.
- Bipartisan legislation fails to pass.
- The result: crypto rules left to the whims of the next election.
What Comes Next
Real consequences hang in the balance here. A firm weighing where to put jobs, money or facilities must not let which party runs Washington drive the choice. What matters instead is that the ground rules stay fixed, steady and easy to read.
Cuomo’s writing urges readers to act, yet it also serves as a warning about how difficult that acting will be. The political system’s resistance to change is not an error — it is the very design of the system itself.
This is a question the next Congress cannot avoid. It must decide whether to take action or leave the fate of financial innovation to political gridlock.
Source material: “US crypto rules need to survive the next election,” Cointelegraph.
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