On the eve of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing to scrutinize a bill to establish rules for the crypto markets, Democrats said they’ve been stymied from seeking technical information about its effects from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to staffers.

Regulatory agencies such as the SEC routinely give technical analysis to lawmakers, answering questions about the potential effects of legislative efforts such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that would establish regulatory guardrails for digital assets. Democratic staff on the House Financial Services Committee submitted questions to the SEC about the bill and in a briefing were denied basic answers that were previously given to Republicans, according to the Democratic aides who asked not to be named. The agency also didn’t offer its subject-matter experts for the discussion, they said.

On Tuesday, the panel’s ranking Democrat, Representative Maxine Waters of California, prepared a letter to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to demand “comprehensive technical and impact analysis” of the crypto market structure bill. She included several pages of questions in a draft reviewed by CoinDesk, contending that “fulsome answers to the questions raised above are necessary for the American people, through their representatives in Congress, to determine whether this legislative proposal addresses the unique risks related to crypto, and would foster the needed environment for responsible innovation to take root.”

The SEC “provides technical assistance to any Member of Congress who seeks it, including on these crypto-related bills,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk when asked about the complaints.

One of the staffers said that the SEC Crypto Task Force’s Landon Zinda, who moved to the agency from crypto advocacy group Coin Center in February, was meant to brief them but was unable to answer basic questions.

The House committee is set to hold the Clarity Act hearing on Wednesday after having recently introduced the long-negotiated legislation, a successor of the last sessions’ Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). The House Agriculture Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the regulation of digital assets, is running its own hearing at the same time.

This bill represents the central policy goal of the crypto industry, which contends that it needs clear U.S. regulations to encourage investors who’ve waited on the sidelines and to keep crypto innovators from moving overseas.

The Democratic staffers say that members have concerns about the traditional securities firms finding loopholes in this major legislation that will allow them to skirt existing securities regulations.

But congressional Democrats haven’t acted as a block when it comes to this and a related stablecoin bill also making its way through the legislative process. While some leaders, including Waters, have opposed advancing crypto legislation, other Democrats have joined with Republicans to move bills forward in both the House and Senate.

Read More: Planned Crypto Hearing in U.S. House Derailed by Democrat Revolt

UPDATE (June 3, 2025, 20:01 UTC): Updates with a response from the SEC and further information from sources.

U.S. Associate Attorney General Todd Blanche is under attack by Senate Democrats following the recent decision to narrow down the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) code enforcement priorities and disband the crypto enforcement squad.

In a letter to Blanche on Thursday, six Senate Democrats – Officer Majier Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sheldon White House (Dr.I), Chris Coons (D-del.), Richard Blumenthell (D-Conn) – National aStepurency eencurry Enculy Enculy Encurse encury (d-conn) – “Free Pass to GIV (ing) Cryptocurrency Money Lander.”

The senator called Blanche’s order that DOJ staff would no longer pursue litigation “due to end-user conduct” against crypto exchanges, mixers or offline wallets, or that no longer result in criminal charges of regulatory violations in cases that contain cryptography, including non-sensical violations.

“By suppressing the DOJ’s liability to enforce federal criminal law when violations are related to digital assets, it suggests that cryptocurrency exchanges, mixers, and other entities trading on digital assets do not need to counter their own money laundering/terrorist financing (terrorist financing) obligations create systemic vulnerability in the digital asset sector.” “Drug traffickers, terrorists, fraudsters and enemies will exploit this vulnerability at scale.”

In a memo to DOJ staff on Monday evening, Blanche cited US President Donald Trump’s executive order on January crypto.

“The Justice Department is not a digital asset regulator,” Blanche wrote, saying that while President Trump’s actual regulators do this work outside the framework of punitive criminal justice, they “will stop pursuing litigation or enforcement measures that have the effect of overlapping regulatory frameworks on digital assets.”

Instead, Blanche urged DOJ staff to focus their enforcement efforts on criminals who use “victimized digital asset investors” and those who use cryptography to promote other criminal schemes such as organized crime, gang funding and terrorism.

Read more: DOJ Axes Crypto Units Like Trump Regulation Pullbacks

But for Senate Democrats, Blanche’s claims don’t completely cut mustard.

“You in your memo argue that DOJs will continue to prosecute people who continue to commit crimes using cryptocurrencies. However, allowing entities that enable these crimes, such as cryptocurrency kiosk operators, to operate outside the federal regulatory framework without the fear of prosecution, will only exploit more Americans.

Lawmakers urged Blanche to reconsider his decision to dismantle the NCET, calling it “an important resource for state and local law enforcement agencies that often lack technical knowledge and skills to investigate cryptocurrency-related crimes.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James raised similar concerns in her own letter to Congress on Thursday, urging lawmakers to pass federal laws to regulate the crypto market. Although her letter itself does not mention Blanche’s memo or NCET’s closure, a press release from her office stressed that her letter “is coming after (DOJ) announced the dismantling of federal criminal cryptocurrency fraud, making it a robust regulatory framework even more important.”