The United States Senate passed a resolution opposing clemency for Sam Bankman-Fried. But can a Senate vote actually stop the president from pardoning him if he decides to?

The law offers a blunt answer. It cannot. Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 hands the president near-total pardon authority, and a non-binding resolution does nothing to touch it.

A Bipartisan Rebuke of SBF’s Pardon Bid

Senators approved S. Res. 772 by unanimous consent. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego introduced the resolution on June 17. 

Both are the top members of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets. The text says Bankman-Fried should under no circumstances receive a pardon or commutation. 

The measure responded to Bankman-Fried’s formal pardon petition, filed in 2026. He submitted it to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. The request lists a pardon after completion of the sentence and remains pending.

Lummis said the FTX founder took customers’ billions to fund extravagant spending, then sought a pardon to escape accountability. 

“He had his day in court. A jury didn’t buy his act, and a judge gave him 25 years for a reason. Mr. Bankman-Fried can spend that time chasing clemency he hasn’t earned, or he can finally do something novel and take accountability, but I’m certainly not interested in helping him avoid responsibility,” Lummis stated.

Why the Vote Cannot Bind the President

Despite the unanimous Senate vote, the resolution does not limit the president’s constitutional authority to grant clemency. That near-total power has deep roots. 

Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 lets the president grant clemency for offences, except in impeachment cases. Courts have consistently held that the authority is beyond congressional reach.

The Supreme Court addressed congressional limits in the 1866 case Ex parte Garland.

“Congress can neither limit the effect of his pardon, nor exclude from its exercise any class of offenders,” the text reads.

So far, President Donald Trump has shown little indication that he intends to pardon Bankman-Fried. In a January interview, he said he had no plans to grant clemency to the former FTX CEO. 

He has previously granted clemency to crypto figures, including Changpeng Zhao and Ross Ulbricht. The decision now rests entirely with the White House. 

The Senate vote adds political pressure without adding legal weight, leaving one question for the coming months. How far does the industry’s clemency streak actually extend?

Source: BeInCrypto