Senate Blocks the Clarity Act as Democrats Cite Trump’s Crypto Conflicts

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, legislation that would set federal rules for digital-asset markets and that the industry has pursued for years. The cloture motion to proceed to the bill fell short of the 60 votes it needed, with more than 40 senators voting no.

The bill would divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a framework the industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying for. The bill passed the House in July 2025, but Tuesday was its first test on the Senate floor.

Democrats withheld the votes Republicans needed. The party had signaled for days that the bill would fail without stronger language barring President Trump, his family and administration officials from profiting off crypto ventures, a reference to the hundreds of millions tied to World Liberty Financial and the TRUMP memecoin. A last-minute Democratic counteroffer did not close the gap, even after Trump accepted some ethics limits in the final draft.

“We got close to resolving some of the toughest outstanding issues around law enforcement and national security, but ultimately, the failure to address this fundamental conflict of interest made it impossible for me to support moving forward,” said Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) in a statement. “That is why I voted no today.”

Disputes over state attorneys general enforcement powers and whether crypto exchanges could pay yield on stablecoin balances also split lawmakers. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) defended the text on the floor: “This is what good faith looks like, this is what compromise looks like.”

Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had pitched the vote as a “free vote” to keep the bill moving. The Senate could hold another procedural vote if floor time allows, though none is scheduled. Bitcoin fell to around $76,000 as the vote failed, extending a slide that had begun earlier Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.

Related Listen: The Chopping Block: Crypto Clarity Act Drama + Stablecoin Yield Wars + Developer Liability Fights

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