Today, President Donald J. Trump signed into law H.J.Res.25, a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution led by Ways and Means Committee Republican Mike Carey (OH-15). The measure overturns a Biden Administration rule that would have buried taxpayers and small businesses in burdensome and unworkable reporting requirements, crippled the digital asset industry, and stifled innovation at the cost of American entrepreneurship.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:

“This is a big win for good governance. Representative Carey’s resolution ends the Biden Administration’s DeFi Broker rule that never should have been issued in the first place – one that went beyond the scope of the law and would have subjected small businesses and taxpayers to impossible reporting requirements while forcing them to wade through miles of IRS red tape in the process. With President Trump’s signature, we have restored common sense, protected American innovation, and reaffirmed that it is Congress – not unelected IRS bureaucrats – that writes our tax laws.”

Representative Mike Carey (OH-15) said:

“The DeFi Broker Rule needlessly hindered American innovation, infringed on the privacy of everyday Americans, and was set to overwhelm the IRS with an overflow of new filings that it doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle during tax season. By repealing this misguided rule, President Trump and Congress have given the IRS an opportunity to return its focus to the duties and obligations it already owes to American taxpayers instead of creating a new series of bureaucratic hurdles. I thank President Trump for signing this important bill into law and Crypto Czar Sacks for his leadership in supporting America’s continued place as the global leader in the emerging crypto industry.”

The rule – issued in the final days of the Biden Administration – sought to dramatically expand tax reporting requirements for those involved in digital asset transactions, creating costly confusion for family-owned businesses, startups, and everyday Americans building financial independence through innovation.

The Joint Resolution passed both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support and was backed by a broad coalition of more than one hundred stakeholders concerned about the impact of the ill-advised Biden IRS rule on taxpayers and the future of digital assets.

Background on H.J.Res.25 – Disapproving of Biden IRS “DeFi Broker Rule”
Disapproves, under the Congressional Review Act, of a last-minute Biden Administration regulation that expands federal reporting requirements for those involved in decentralized digital asset transactions.

• In December 2024, the Biden Administration released a new rule requiring decentralized finance (DeFi) brokers to file a Form 1099-DA and subjecting DeFi brokers to the same reporting rules as brokers for securities and operators of custodial digital asset trading platforms – despite the systematic differences between the two.
• Unlike securities brokers or centralized brokers of custodial digital assets – which operate more like banks – DeFi brokers are not centralized, do not collect the information needed to comply with this rule, and do not act as a true third-party intermediary like more traditional securities brokers.
• Describing the rule, former IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said these new crypto regulations would “overwhelm the agency and have little or no value to effective and efficient tax administration.”
• The Joint Disapproval Resolution effectively repeals the rule submitted by the Treasury relating to “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales.”
• The Joint Disapproval Resolution also wipes the slate clean for Congress to enact the Trump Administration’s desired policy related to DeFi brokers.
• On February 26, H.J.Res.25 passed out of the Ways and Means Committee by a vote of 26-16. Every committee Democrat present voted no.
• On March 11, the House passed H.J.Res.25 by a vote of 292-132. 
• On March 26, the Senate passed H.J.Res.25 by a vote of 70-28.

Click here for a fact sheet on the bill.