Senate Crypto's Two-Week Window: CLARITY Act or August Siesta? 🏛️

The CLARITY Act faces a decisive two-week stretch as U.S. Senate leaders target a July floor vote on the long-pending digital asset market structure bill. The Senate is in recess until July 13, during which congressional staff from both parties, White House officials, and crypto industry representatives are working to reconcile separate versions produced by the Senate Banking Committee, which advanced the bill in May, and the Senate Agriculture Committee, which passed it in January, both along party lines. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a bill proponent, said in a Fox Business interview last week that negotiators are "still working a little bit on DeFi, we're working [on] illicit finance, we're working a little bit on ethics," and added that text would be released over the July 4th period "and then we're moving in July."

Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and Majority Leader John Thune said Monday they are pushing for the chamber to pass CLARITY in July. Lawmakers are scheduled to be on state work periods until July 13, giving them roughly four weeks before a monthlong August recess. The House passed the bill in July 2025.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would not sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing bill that contained a ban on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), until Republicans pass the SAVE America Act, legislation requiring in-person proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Trump said in March he would "not sign other bills" until it passed. The move has introduced uncertainty over the CLARITY Act's path despite earlier signals of administration support. Under the U.S. Constitution, if a president does not sign or veto a bill within 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law; a veto could be overridden by a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

Republicans hold a slim Senate majority and would need some Democratic support to clear the bill. Many Democrats have pushed for stronger ethics provisions, citing the Trump family's ties to the crypto industry through the president's memecoin and his sons' involvement in the World Liberty Financial platform and a Bitcoin mining company. Galaxy has cut its CLARITY Act odds to 50% as Senate floor time narrows.