Two U.S. senators introduced a bipartisan resolution this week opposing any presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted FTX founder serving 25 years for fraud. The measure, from Republican Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) and Democrat Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), cannot legally block a pardon but signals that Congress is watching — and pushing back — as Bankman-Fried's clemency bid makes its way through the Justice Department.
The resolution's limits — and its point
The resolution is a sense-of-the-Senate statement, not binding law. It won't stop President Donald Trump from issuing a pardon if he chooses. What it does do: put every senator on record. A vote would force lawmakers to say whether they think a man who stole more than $8 billion from customers deserves executive mercy. That's uncomfortable for both parties, especially with the 2026 midterms approaching.
The timing isn't random. Last week a federal appeals court upheld Bankman-Fried's conviction and sentence. His pardon petition is currently listed as pending before the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney. Bankman-Fried has publicly supported Trump on X, and his parents spent 2025 hiring lawyers with ties to the president to push for clemency. Trump himself dismissed the idea in January, but the resolution suggests the Senate isn't taking that as a final answer.
How we got here
Bankman-Fried co-founded FTX and Alameda Research. The exchange collapsed in November 2022, wiping out billions in customer deposits. A jury convicted him on seven fraud and conspiracy counts in 2023. Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years and ordered forfeiture of $11 billion. He's been in federal custody since his arrest in the Bahamas.
On April 28, 2026, Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried's motion for a new trial. The appeals court affirmed the conviction last week. With direct appeals exhausted, a pardon is one of the few remaining paths out of prison early — his current release date is projected at 2044.
The resolution doesn't have a scheduled vote yet. Lummis and Gallego will need to push it through committee and onto the floor. Even if it passes, Trump could ignore it. But the message is clear: at least some senators are prepared to fight a pardon in public, turning what might have been a quiet Justice Department decision into a political firestorm.
Bankman-Fried has reportedly discussed launching a new crypto token after his release. That's a long way off — and right now, the only thing moving is a piece of paper on Capitol Hill.
