Democrats are investigating Trump crypto advisor David Sacks over a possible SGE violation (www.engadget.com)

Senate and House Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Melanie Stansbury are probing White House Special Advisor David Sacks for potentially exceeding the 130-day service limit allowed for Special Government Employees (SGEs) without clearing conflicts of interest. Sacks, a former PayPal exec and Craft Ventures investor tapped in 2024 as the "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar," has influence over crypto and AI policy that Democrats say could raise ethics questions if he continued advising past the SGE waiver period. The letter to Sacks notes the 130th calendar day would have been May 29, 2025 (or July 25, 2025 counting business days), and that the administration is already well beyond those benchmarks, prompting requests for detailed records of his advisory activities, including email correspondence and work performed from Silicon Valley. The inquiry matters for the AI/ML and crypto communities because Sacks’ role intersects industry investment interests and regulatory design at a pivotal time: the administration has issued an executive order on a federal Bitcoin reserve and passed the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins. If Sacks remained in his advisory post while retaining private investments or operational ties to Craft Ventures, it could constitute an ethics breach and signal industry capture risks in shaping technical standards, data governance, and crypto regulation. The outcome could affect enforcement of SGE rules, transparency norms for tech advisers, and stakeholder trust in how AI/crypto policy is developed.