- The CLARITY Act failed to advance during cloture by a vote of 49-50, risking its shelving for the remainder of the congressional session.
- Many senators already expected the result, yet they believe the bill is not yet dead.
The USA’s Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act lost its path to passage this year after it failed to secure the needed 60-vote supermajority during a Senate cloture vote on Tuesday. The tally showed a 49-50 vote on the procedural motion, meaning lawmakers will shelve the bill for the remainder of the current Congressional session and will need to reintroduce it in the next legislative session.
Behind the Scenes Before the CLARITY Act Cloture
Tensions ran high on the way to cloture as Republicans rejected the Democrats’ counter-proposal to the recent language President Donald Trump has agreed to. The bill’s sticking points remained its ethics, decentralized finance developer liability, stablecoin yield, and state attorneys general enforcement provisions.
Trump’s allies believe that they have already given the opposition too many concessions, with Senator Cynthia Lummis noting that they have accommodated more than 120 of Democratic senators’ revisions. However, the other side refused to embrace the text that they claimed had “too many carveouts,” as it failed to address concerns over the First Family’s conflicts of interest in crypto. Additionally, they pointed out that it still exempts the president from possible accountability.
Crypto in America’s Eleanor Terrett, citing a Democratic staffer’s insider scoop, revealed that Thom Tillis suggested delaying the vote to continue negotiations. Yet his Republican colleague Senator Tim Scott was no longer willing to prolong the talks.
“They wanted to protect the president’s grift, and they know that getting on the bill exposes problems for them,” the source said.
The event allegedly brought the discussion to an abrupt end, prompting even CLARITY Act supporters in the Democratic Party to deny its progress.
CLARITY Act is Not Dead
Senator John Kennedy commented that he wasn’t surprised by the result. Nonetheless, he thinks the CLARITY Act is not necessarily dead.
“I think my Democratic colleagues understand that we need to design a market structure for cryptocurrency that looks like somebody designed it on purpose,” Kennedy told Terrett. “But it’s gonna have to wait until the lame duck session.”
Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz blamed the Democrats for the CLARITY Act’s failure, echoing senatorial aspirant and crypto lawyer John Deaton’s expectation that political gridlock will likely prevent the crypto legislation from advancing. The Massachusetts candidate earlier forecasted that the opposition will never support a bill that will provide Republicans “legislative victory before the midterms.”
Still, Cruz hopes that the CLARITY Act “comes back to life.”
