Key Insights:
- CLARITY Act faces a September Senate vote after lawmakers delay.
- SEC prepares new crypto offering rules while Congress remains stalled on legislation.
- Ethics, stablecoin safeguards, and banking concerns remain key obstacles to passage.
The CLARITY Act will return to the Senate in September after lawmakers left Washington without holding a key procedural vote. Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture early Saturday on the motion to proceed with the bill.
That filing placed the legislation on the Senate schedule for when lawmakers return from the August 2026 recess. The delay now gives negotiators several weeks to address the disputes blocking the bill.
Senate Delay Leaves CLARITY Act Negotiations Open
The delay, as highlighted by Eleanor Terrett in her X post, followed disagreements between Republicans, Democrats, the White House, and banking interests. Republicans accused Democrats of refusing to compromise on the legislation. Democrats, meanwhile, said the White House had not accepted their proposed ethics agreement.
Those disagreements have also affected the bill’s path among Republican senators. At least two Republican senators, Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), have indicated they cannot support the CLARITY Act in its current form.
The banking industry’s position has added another layer to the negotiations. Banks have argued that the bill does not provide enough protection against stablecoin-driven deposit flight. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno responded by joining a bipartisan credit card competition measure.
