CLARITY Act Faces Uncertain Future After Missing Senate Schedule

The CLARITY Act, a bill aimed at regulating the crypto market, is facing a Friday deadline before the Senate recesses. Despite being ready for a floor vote since June 1, there has been no scheduled vote.

According to the Senate's floor plan for Monday, only a cloture vote on the motion to proceed with a continuing-resolution spending vehicle is listed, with no entry for the CLARITY Act.

The absence of the bill in the schedule doesn't mean it's dead, but it does indicate that Senate leaders have no publicly listed path forward. To move ahead, an ordinary cloture petition would require 16 signatures, and a vote could occur as early as Friday, August 7. However, this would only concern ending debate on the motion to proceed, not passing the bill itself.

A best-case scenario for the CLARITY Act is uncertain due to several factors. Republicans need 60 votes to pass the bill, but currently, only two Democrats are publicly backing it. Seven Democratic negotiators have expressed concerns about the current draft, while Senator Elizabeth Warren has opposed the revised bill outright.