The Senate Judiciary Committee votes Tuesday on Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination, but two Republican senators, not Democrats, are holding it up over an unrelated IRS fund dispute. His confirmation would lock in the lighter DOJ crypto-enforcement stance he set as Deputy AG, and the vote's timing is now entangled with the stalling CLARITY Act ahead of the August 8 Senate recess.
Two Republicans, Not Democrats, Block the Vote
Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis withheld their support ahead of Tuesday's committee vote, demanding written Justice Department assurances over a proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund tied to an IRS settlement. Committee Chair Chuck Grassley acknowledged his side lacked the votes and postponed an earlier markup, explaining the delay was "per standard committee practice." Blanche can afford zero Republican defections in committee, so the White House opened talks with Cornyn's office as floor votes on both the nomination and the CLARITY Act converge in the same narrow pre-recess window.
Why Crypto Markets Are Watching
As Deputy AG in April 2025, Blanche issued the "Ending Regulation by Prosecution" memo, disbanding the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and directing prosecutors to stop treating regulatory non-compliance as a primary criminal matter for crypto platforms. Democratic senators have since raised conflict-of-interest concerns: disclosures showed Blanche held more than $150,000 in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana around the time he wrote the memo, though he later transferred the assets. A confirmed Blanche would fix that lighter enforcement posture in place just as the CLARITY Act's ethics package designates the DOJ as the sole enforcer of restrictions on crypto-involved officials.
CLARITY Act Odds Slip to 30%
Galaxy Research has cut 2026 CLARITY Act passage odds to 30% as the ethics standoff drags on. A Blanche confirmation could ease bipartisan concerns over enforcement credibility, but a stall keeps regulatory overhang alive for Bitcoin, XRP, and institutional ETF flows.
Standard Chartered's conditional $8 XRP price target hinges on the bill passing. So does JPMorgan's $4.3 billion to $8.4 billion first-year XRP ETF inflow estimate. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged the Senate to vote on the CLARITY Act now, but time is short. August 10 marks the start of the Senate's state work period, the deadline most analysts treat as the bill's practical cutoff for 2026.
Source: CoinGape
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