The Senate has limited time to vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before Senators leave Washington to return to their home states for summer recess․ The CLARITY Act was not included on the Senate calendar for the week of Monday‚ August 3‚ 2023‚ and there was no cloture petition for H․R․ 3633 on the cloture ledger for the same date․
That does not kill the bill‚ but it complicates things for Senate leadership’s hopes of beginning consideration before the state work period‚ which begins August 10․
Under the Senate’s normal Rule XXII procedural practice‚ supporters can file a petition for cloture signed by 16 Senators․ If filed on Wednesday‚ August 5‚ the Senate could vote on the cloture petition on the following Friday‚ August 7‚ if the Senate is in session‚ without approving the bill․
The only question before the Senate would be whether to invoke cloture (to end debate on the motion to proceed)‚ which requires a 60-vote margin to overcome․ As of now‚ Republicans hold 53 seats and would need at least seven Democrats․
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Even after a successful vote‚ Rule XXII allows up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate before a vote on the motion to proceed to consider the bill․ Following a successful cloture vote‚ senators then debate the language of the bill‚ offer up amendments and vote on passage; the Senate may subsequently choose to move to invoke cloture on the bill itself․ This is why a Friday vote is only the first step in the process․
Leadership could speed debate by filing cloture to bring the filibuster to resolution‚ but this would require the support of not only the party leadership‚ but of bipartisanship․ A unanimous-consent agreement to limit debate and set the timing of the votes could also be reached more quickly‚ but this could be blocked by one senator․ However‚ no filing or public notice has indicated that this is a possibility․
With regard to Democratic legislative support‚ the seven Democrats on the negotiating team said that the Republicans’ draft failed to properly address ethics‚ consumer protections‚ illicit finance‚ conflicts of interest, and market integrity‚ but left open the potential for further discussions․ Senator Elizabeth Warren called the draft unacceptable and argued that its ethics language does not go far enough to address President Donald Trump’s crypto stake․
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Senator Cynthia Lummis filed a compromise combining the work of the Banking and Agriculture Committees․ Lummis previously said that Majority Leader John Thune had left space on the calendar for the bill before the recess‚ but later said that she expected that and did not know․
The next major deadline would be when a cloture is filed‚ or leadership makes an announcement about a unanimous-consent request․ The schedule left by a deadline before the recess would be busier in September than during the recess․ It would also put Congress closer to the 2026 midterms‚ when political donations and public votes on crypto regulation could become more important․
