- The US House of Representatives has failed to overturn President Biden’s veto of Congress’ SAB 121 joint resolution.
- The House was unable to reach the two-thirds majority vote necessary to overturn the veto
The US House of Representatives fell short in its attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s veto of the SEC’s SAB (Staff Accounting Bulletin) 121. The House session today saw 21 Democrats voting in favour of overturning the veto with only one Republican voting against, however it was unable to meet the two-thirds majority vote count required to upend Biden’s veto.
In May, the US Congress united to pass a CRA (Congressional Review Act) against the anti-crypto SEC guideline SAB 121, which discouraged financial institutions from offering custodial services for crypto assets. It was a historical bipartisan win for crypto as 21 Democrats joined hands with over 48 Republicans to repeal the guideline in the Senate.
However, the resolution wouldn’t stand as President Biden sided with the SEC shortly after the CRA was invoked. A letter from his office said his administration “will not support” such a measure that could undermine the SEC’s ability to protect investors and its other authorities. The president would later veto the resolution in June —a move that aroused untold backlash against the President and Democrats.
Today, 21 House Democrats voted to overturn the President’s veto of the anti-crypto agency guideline alongside all Republicans present in the House today except Georgia’s Drew Ferguson, per Fox’s Eleanor Terrett. Ferguson was among the Republicans who voted in favor of the house resolution in May but surprisingly switched sides today for reasons that are yet to be known.
Today’s House session also saw several defections among Democrats. Terret noted that three of the Democrats that voted Yes to repeal the SEC guideline shockingly voted No to overturning it. Meanwhile, four of the Democrats who originally voted against the repeal endorsed the overruling of the President’s veto.
Looking at the vote count—228 Yeahs and 184 Nays—Rep. Mike Flood, one of the co-sponsors of HR (House Resolution) 109 to repeal SAB 121, said, “Today’s vote sent a message that a bipartisan majority of the House continues to support repealing SAB 121.”
“Banks have long been America’s most trusted custodians, and regulators should work with them so they can provide the same services for digital assets that they have to other asset classes through the years,” added Flood.
Another co-sponsor, Rep. Wiley Nickel, has called on SEC Chair Gary Gensler to withdraw or amend the anti-crypto agency guideline. He also hints at another bipartisan bill that could void the SAB 121 guideline.
“The Uniform Treatment of Custodial Assets Act that I introduced with Reps. Flood, Torres, and Hill, would prohibit the SEC from implementing SAB 121 and ensure that banks are able to safely offer digital asset custody services. I urge Chairman McHenry and Ranking Member Waters to consider marking up our bipartisan bill to get this right.”
