TLDR
- The White House says it will keep negotiating with Democrats to pass the CLARITY Act in September.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture, setting a Sept. 15 procedural vote.
- The bill needs 60 Senate votes but Republicans cannot reach that without Democratic support.
- Ethics restrictions tied to Trump-linked crypto interests and stablecoin reward rules remain unresolved.
- Prediction markets give CLARITY only a 25% chance of becoming law in 2026.
The U.S. Senate failed to vote on the CLARITY Act before its August recess, pushing a key procedural vote to September 15. The White House says it is not giving up.
🚨🗞️NEW: Clarity Gets a September Lifeline as SEC Tees Up Proposal for Crypto Offering Rules
The Senate punted a procedural vote on the Clarity Act. How it happened and what comes next as regulators prepare to move ahead with crypto rules of their own.https://t.co/B9EKDgFUdE
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) August 11, 2026
Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said Tuesday that the Trump administration would continue negotiating with Democrats “all the way up until the September vote.” He added that the country “can’t afford to wait forever.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act shortly before senators left Washington for their month-long break. That filing sets up a procedural test when the Senate returns on September 14.
The September 15 vote will not be a final vote on the bill. It is a cloture motion that would simply allow the Senate to begin formally debating the legislation.
The CLARITY Act would create a federal framework for digital assets. It would set rules for when crypto tokens are treated as securities or commodities and how trading platforms are regulated.
The House passed the bill by a 294 to 134 vote on July 17, 2025. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its portion in May 2026, with two Democratic senators joining Republicans in that vote.
Bipartisan Support Still Needed
The bill needs at least 60 Senate votes to clear the cloture threshold. Republicans do not have enough votes on their own, making Democratic support essential.
Several Democrats remain opposed. Senator Elizabeth Warren has rejected the current bill over concerns about corruption, consumer protection, national security, and financial stability.
A central dispute involves ethics rules. Some Democrats want stricter provisions targeting crypto interests linked to Trump, including his association with World Liberty Financial and the Official Trump memecoin.
Banking groups are also applying pressure from another direction. They want the Senate to close what they call stablecoin-yield loopholes that could let crypto companies pull deposits away from community banks.
Industry Response and Market Reaction
Crypto industry leaders were openly frustrated by the pre-recess delay. Senator Cynthia Lummis said she was frustrated but vowed to keep working on the bill, calling the effort “far from over.”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the delay disappointing. He argued that stablecoin adoption and tokenization would keep moving forward regardless of Congress.
Coinbase shares did not fall after the delay. The stock closed at $153.60 on Friday, up about 5.7% during that session.
BitMine Chair Tom Lee said investors were focused more on inflation and jobs data than on the CLARITY setback.
Prediction markets show traders expect a Senate vote in September. A Kalshi contract put the odds of a vote before October 1 at 88%. But a Polymarket contract gave the bill only a 25% chance of being signed into law in 2026.
