Senate Kills CLARITY Act with One-Vote Margin
The Senate voted down the CLARITY Act on September 15, 2026, with 49 votes against and 50 for. The bill needed 60 votes to advance and move forward.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a lead champion of the bill, was not happy about the outcome. She accused Senate Democrats of putting their opposition to President Trump ahead of consumer rights, saying that they 'stalled protections for ordinary people using digital assets'.
The CLARITY Act aimed to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. One of its main goals was to clarify jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC, which have both claimed parts of the crypto market. The bill emerged from lengthy bipartisan negotiations, with over 120 amendments contributed by Democratic senators.
Despite this input, every Democrat voted against advancing the bill. Four Republicans crossed over and joined them, making it clear that the bill fell well short of its target. Lummis suggested that the bill is effectively dead for the current Congress and unlikely to be revived until 2030.