Senate Democrats are reviewing a 635-page Republican proposal for the CLARITY Act ahead of a procedural vote on 15 September, with Republicans needing at least seven Democratic votes to secure the 60 required to begin debate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer convened the Democratic caucus on Sunday evening after Republicans published the revised text. As of 14 September, no Democratic leader had said whether the caucus would support the motion.
The proposal was released by Cynthia Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee, alongside Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and Senate Agriculture Committee chair John Boozman. They described it as the result of more than a year of negotiations and said it included 126 substantive changes requested by Democratic negotiators.
A Republican aide called the document the party’s “last, best and final” offer before Tuesday’s vote. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning seven Democrats must support cloture if all Republicans vote in favour.
Ethics rules remain central to negotiations
Ethics provisions have been a major point of disagreement, with Democrats seeking safeguards against elected officials and their families benefiting from digital assets while shaping policy.
Republican sponsors said President Donald Trump had accepted provisions based on “substantially all” of an ethics proposal drawn up by Senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego. The measures would apply to federally elected officials, federal judges and their spouses.
Eleanor Terrett reported that covered officials would have to sell certain “substantial” crypto-related interests or place them in a blind trust. The account attributed the details to a Republican aide familiar with the negotiations.
The revised enforcement framework would also give state attorneys general a role, rather than concentrating enforcement solely in federal hands. State officials could act alongside the Justice Department or against crypto exchanges where they believed the rules were not being enforced.
Lummis said Trump had agreed voluntarily to the provisions. Her description of them as among the toughest ethics restrictions in U.S. history was the sponsors’ assessment and had not been endorsed by Democratic negotiators.
Stablecoins and developer protections
The bill would give Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent authority to respond if payment stablecoins caused widespread deposit withdrawals from community banks. Sponsors described the measure as a “circuit breaker”.
Banking groups say stablecoin rewards can compete with interest-bearing bank accounts, while crypto companies argue broad restrictions could block lawful customer incentives.
The revised Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act language would provide a civil safe harbour for qualifying developers who do not control customer funds, but earlier protection from criminal cases, including prosecutions under Section 1960, has been removed. Section 1960 concerns unlicensed money-transmitting businesses.
The measure would establish registration routes for digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers, give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over covered spot markets, and preserve Securities and Exchange Commission jurisdiction over securities and investment contracts. State consumer-protection laws would continue to apply.
Vote opens debate but does not pass the bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune scheduled the cloture vote for 2:15 p.m. Eastern on 15 September. If successful, Lummis, Boozman and Scott intend to offer the Republican text as a substitute amendment to H.R. 3633.
Further amendments and votes would follow. The House passed its version 294-134 in July 2025, while the Senate Banking Committee advanced its section 15-9 in May 2026, with Democrats Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks joining Republicans.
A failed vote would neither enact nor reject the bill. If the Senate approves changes to the House version, both chambers would still need to agree on final text.
