Senate Blocks Trump-Backed Crypto Bill, 49-50
Senate Blocks Trump-Backed Crypto Bill, 49-50
The News
The Senate on Tuesday blocked the Clarity Act, the crypto industry's landmark bid for a federal market-structure law, in a 49-50 procedural vote.
The motion to proceed needed 60 votes to clear. All Democrats and a handful of Republicans voted no, according to The Hill.
Democrats said they blocked the bill because it lacked ethics provisions addressing President Trump's personal crypto business interests, Bloomberg and the New York Times reported.
The Vote
49-50 on the motion to proceed. 60 votes required. Result: the bill does not advance.
Timeline
A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James urges the Senate to reject the bill, warning it would limit state enforcement power, The Center Square reported.
NPR reports the legislation would set rules of the road for the crypto sector for the first time, but faces uncertain prospects on the floor.
The Senate votes 49-50 on the motion to proceed. The cloture effort fails.
Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis declares the Clarity Act dead, Fox News reported.
Reactions
Lummis, one of the bill's chief backers, pronounced the measure dead after the vote, per Fox News.
Democrats framed their opposition as an ethics fight, citing what Bloomberg described as "continued concerns over ethics provisions meant to address President Donald Trump's crypto business interests." The New York Times reported the same objection drove the stall.
Letitia James and her fellow attorneys general had argued the bill would curb state authority, according to The Center Square.
On the other side, the Washington Examiner's editorial page urged passage, arguing Congress must set clear crypto rules to protect consumers and avoid a repeat of the Sam Bankman-Fried collapse.
What's Next
With the procedural vote failed, the bill does not move to floor consideration. Its lead Republican sponsor has already called it dead.
NOTUS reported the failed vote is likely to unleash a wave of crypto industry spending heading into the midterm elections.
More
The Clarity Act would have created the first comprehensive federal framework for digital asset markets — the industry's top legislative priority for years, according to CNBC and NPR.
The Boston Globe noted the vote came as the crypto industry has become a major political force and as Trump has amassed significant crypto wealth while in office.
Poll
Was the Senate right to block the Clarity Act?
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