Senate leaders push CLARITY Act passage before July 13 recess
In brief
- CLARITY Act faces four-week Senate window before July 13 recess
- Republican leaders Scott and Thune push for July cryptocurrency regulation passage
- Trump's veto threat on unrelated bill complicates CLARITY Act's path
The push for July passage
Republican leaders in the Senate, including banking committee chair Tim Scott and majority leader John Thune, said they were pushing for the chamber to pass CLARITY in July. The bill passed the Senate Agriculture Committee in January and the Senate Banking Committee in May along party lines, advancing the measure through two key committees.
The CLARITY Act already cleared the US House in July 2025, giving Senate passage a path to the president's desk. Still, the timeline is tight. Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate and will need some Democratic support to reach the 60-vote threshold required for passage.
Trump's veto threat clouds prospects
The picture darkened this week. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday cancelled the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, signaling he would not sign the bill until Republicans passed the SAVE America Act. The move by the president leaves the future of the CLARITY Act in doubt despite earlier statements signaling he supported the bill.
It's unclear whether Trump will veto CLARITY outright. If Trump vetoes the legislation, Congress could override him with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers, though that threshold would be extremely difficult to reach.
Obstacles pile up
Many Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for ethics provisions in the bill, citing the Trump family's ties to the crypto industry. The bill has faced several hurdles advancing in Congress, from industry pushback on stablecoin rewards to lawmakers' concerns about ethics.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a CLARITY proponent, captured the mood in a statement: "We've been negotiating on the CLARITY Act hardcore since last Labor Day, and it's been an arduous process."
Should Republicans not meet the 60-vote threshold in the Senate before August, many experts expect that lawmakers dealing with the midterm elections could delay CLARITY passage to the next Congress in 2027. That would reset the entire process and leave the crypto industry without federal market structure rules for at least two more years.
