Senate Republicans are hunting for Democratic votes on the Clarity Act, with Majority Leader John Thune able to file cloture on a motion to proceed this week. The crypto market structure bill needs 60 votes, and seven Democratic senators say the revised text still falls short. Senators leave Washington on August 7.
Republicans need Democrats to move the Clarity Act: the bill must clear a 60-vote cloture threshold in the Senate. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, leaving them dependent on Democratic support even if nearly every GOP senator backs the measure.
Crypto industry groups hope Thune will start the floor process by filing cloture on a motion to proceed, according to a Crypto in America report.
The 60-vote math leaves no room
A cloture filing would typically set up a vote two Senate session days later. If the Senate invokes cloture, lawmakers could then spend as many as 30 hours debating the motion before voting on whether to proceed to the legislation itself.
That sequence would not guarantee passage, but it would move the bill closer to a full floor debate. The Republican count carries its own uncertainty: Senator Mitch McConnell is expected to remain absent, while Josh Hawley and Rand Paul have not confirmed their positions, and both voted against the GENIUS Act in 2025.
Democrats say the revised text falls short
Seven Democratic senators said the updated Clarity Act text released last week fell short of their expectations, pointing to political ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, market integrity and the regulation of decentralized finance. Senator Thom Tillis is leading bipartisan talks over ethics rules and has called for provisions that go beyond the proposal the White House and other GOP lawmakers agreed to.
Senator Dave McCormick blames politics. According to Bitcoin Magazine, he told Fox Business on Friday: “The Democrats are starting to think, ‘We don’t want to give it a win,’”. Bitcoin Magazine also reported that Fidelity and Goldman Sachs have said the revised bill works in its current format.
Police endorsement clears one obstacle
The National Fraternal Order of Police endorsed the revised bill on Friday after lawmakers addressed its concerns about the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, whose provisions would protect certain non-custodial software developers from registering as money transmitters. Yet the endorsement does not resolve broader disagreements over when a DeFi service should qualify as decentralized.
Coinpedia reported that the Crypto Council for Innovation is countering what it calls myths about the bill, arguing the legislation expands anti-money laundering requirements and provides $150 million in additional funding for FinCEN. The council also dismissed fears of bank deposit flight, noting bipartisan language from Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks that blocks stablecoin issuers from offering interest or rewards that work like traditional bank deposits.
August 7 caps the window
Senators are scheduled to leave Washington on August 7. Thune said last week he did not expect the Clarity Act to pass before the break. Senate leaders have reportedly discussed keeping lawmakers in Washington during the first few days of the recess if enough votes can be secured.
Failure to reach a bipartisan agreement before the recess could push further action into a more difficult election-year calendar.
Sources: crypto.news, Bitcoin Magazine, Coinpedia Fintech News
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