The US Senate faces just 36 days in session before year's end to pass the CLARITY Act after pushing a cloture vote to September. Lawmakers still haven't resolved disputes over ethics language tied to President Donald Trump's crypto ties and stablecoin reward restrictions, and November's midterm elections could complicate talks further. With the bill in limbo, regulators at the SEC and CFTC say they are ready to act on their own.
After lawmakers break for a month-long recess, the Senate will have just 36 days in session before the end of the year to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The bill is expected to face a cloture vote in September, but it still faces significant hurdles on the path to becoming law.
Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture for the crypto market structure bill just before the Senate broke for recess last week, sending it to the floor for consideration. Lawmakers return from recess on Sept. 14, but they will have only 14 days scheduled in session before breaking again ahead of the November election, and another 22 days before year's end.
Ethics language and stablecoin rewards remain unresolved
That 36-day window still leaves many crypto industry advocates publicly optimistic about the bill's chances in Congress, but lawmakers have not announced a deal on several provisions still at issue. These include ethics language covering Trump's ties to digital assets and additional restrictions on crypto companies offering stablecoin rewards.
The Senate has already had 13 months to consider CLARITY since the House passed it last year. In that time, the chamber faced more than one government shutdown, pushback from industry leaders, and opposition from Democrats who said the bill's earlier version would enable what they called Trump's "crypto corruption."
Even if the Senate holds its cloture vote in September, lawmakers would still have only a matter of days to resolve the outstanding issues before a potential floor vote and the pre-election recess. After November, when 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats will be up for grabs, the midterm results could complicate the legislation further, since many members of Congress could be gone by 2027.
SEC and CFTC signal they will act without Congress
With the market structure bill again in limbo for at least a month, many experts are looking to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission for regulatory clarity instead. The legislation would give the CFTC more authority to oversee digital assets, but with the law still pending, both agencies have signaled they will act if Congress doesn't.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a July interview that the agency was "ready, willing, and able to come out with rules" to address crypto if Congress fails to pass CLARITY. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said in April that the commission was ready to take responsibility to oversee crypto markets, though in reference to lawmakers passing the market structure bill first.
Source: Cointelegraph
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