The CLARITY Act remains stalled in the US Senate after failing to secure the 60 votes needed to begin debate, with Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis blaming Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump and Democratic negotiators saying unresolved ethics safeguards prevented a deal.
The procedural vote on 15 September ended 49-50, with one senator not voting. Every Democrat who voted opposed cloture, while Republicans Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis also voted against moving forward. Democratic Senator Chris Coons did not vote.
The vote concerned a motion to proceed with H.R. 3633, rather than final passage of the crypto market-structure bill. Tillis switched his vote to no so he could file a motion to reconsider, a step that leaves open the possibility of another vote. Senate records showed no new cloture vote had been posted by 23 September.
Speaking at CoinDesk’s Policy & Regulation event on 22 September, Lummis said she was “dismayed, dumbfounded and saddened” by the result. She argued that Democratic opposition to Trump had taken priority over support for legislation governing digital assets and said the industry should “pin it on the Democrats”.
Democratic senators rejected that explanation. Angela Alsobrooks said she supported digital-asset regulation but had sought ethics restrictions covering the current president, future presidents and members of Congress. She said negotiators had been close to an agreement before Republican leadership ended discussions immediately before the vote.
Kirsten Gillibrand, Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock said the following day that they still backed bipartisan crypto market-structure legislation. They described the vote as a setback but said negotiations should continue.
Republican sponsors said the final Senate text already reflected substantial Democratic demands. Lummis, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman and Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said the 14 September draft contained 126 substantive changes requested during negotiations.
Those changes included most of a Tillis-Gallego ethics proposal, greater enforcement powers for state attorneys general and new Treasury authority relating to stablecoin-linked deposit flight. An earlier 10 September draft addressed when certain non-decentralised DeFi protocols would register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and become subject to Bank Secrecy Act requirements. It also clarified provisions concerning some prediction markets and credit-union digital-asset activities.
Democrats maintained that ethics language remained inadequate. President Trump’s cryptocurrency interests were central to the dispute after Reuters reported he disclosed more than $1.4bn in 2025 income from family crypto ventures. The White House accepted some ethics provisions, but Democratic senators said they did not go far enough.
Banks also raised concerns that stablecoin rules could encourage deposits to leave traditional lenders, reducing their ability to provide loans. Banking groups sought changes, while the crypto industry pushed for rules permitting rewards and other stablecoin-linked products. Crypto.news identified ethics, stablecoin yield and DeFi as the main unresolved issues.
The House passed H.R. 3633 by 294-134 in July 2025, including 78 Democratic votes. House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill and House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson said the Senate defeat did not remove the need for statutory digital-asset rules.
Hill and Thompson said Congress should continue working while the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission operate under existing authority. Hill said Trump’s memecoin had complicated negotiations but argued that Congress still needed legislation addressing both market regulation and potential conflicts involving elected officials.
The House vote included support from 216 Republicans and 78 Democrats. Any Senate bill that materially changes the House version would require agreement between both chambers before it could reach the president.
Crypto executives warned that further delay could postpone US product launches and commercial agreements, leaving businesses to make investment decisions without a comprehensive federal market-structure law. Republican sponsors continue to support reviving the legislation, while Democratic negotiators have publicly committed to further talks.
