Democrats reject Senate bill on cryptocurrency
The initiative saw opposition from all Democrats and three Republicans, specifically Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who joined in voting against it.
TroibNews 
On Thursday, Senate Democrats rejected a procedural motion that would have permitted the upper chamber to consider significant cryptocurrency legislation led by Republicans, marking a significant setback for the GOP as one of their initial major policy initiatives since gaining control.
The vote resulted in a narrow 48-49 defeat for the crypto bill, which followed a tumultuous week of negotiations aimed at persuading key Democratic holdouts to support the effort.
All Democrats, along with three Republicans—including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri—opposed the motion, which needed 60 votes to pass. Democratic negotiators aimed to postpone the vote until the following week to allow for additional discussions on potential amendments, but Republican leaders decided to push forward.
“We need time,” remarked Sen. Ruben Gallego, who previously supported an earlier version of the bill in committee and played a key role in this week’s negotiations for Democrats. “We’re not shutting down. We don’t want to shut this down to the point where we are ending all this work we have put into it. We want to bring this economy and this innovation to the United States.”
This vote represents a notable defeat for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and pro-crypto Republicans, potentially jeopardizing the GOP's broader efforts to advance multiple industry-friendly digital assets bills this year. Thune, who voted against the legislation, has initiated a motion to reconsider, allowing him the opportunity to revisit the issue.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, the bill's primary sponsor, expressed on the Senate floor that voting against the motion equated to a vote “to kill the crypto industry here in America, and it’s a shame.” He and fellow Republicans urged Democrats to support the procedural motion, which would have provided extra time before the final passage vote.
“If senators would like the opportunity to make further modification to the bill, I encourage them to vote for cloture,” Thune stated during Thursday’s floor debate. “Once we’re on the bill, we can discuss changes here on the floor. We’ve had an open process on this bill so far, so why stop now?”
The proposed legislation aims to establish the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins—digital tokens linked to the dollar. While the bill had previously garnered bipartisan backing, it faced hurdles over the weekend when nine anticipated Democratic supporters withdrew their support for the latest version introduced by GOP leaders.
Key Republicans, including Hagerty and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, worked diligently throughout the week to convince those holdouts, holding several closed-door meetings to negotiate changes that might attract Democratic votes. However, those discussions did not lead to an actionable agreement in time to sway enough Democrats.
Some Democratic holdouts who did not participate in this week's talks indicated uncertainty about any potential deal just before the vote.
"I'm not going to vote for something if I don't know what's in it," stated Sen. John Hickenlooper, who had signed a Democratic statement earlier in the week expressing dissatisfaction with the most recent version of the bill. "We've gone through versions before where they say something's in the text and then it's not there in the way we thought it should be there."
Conversely, Sen. Elizabeth Warren viewed the outcome as a win, having opposed the GOP-led stablecoin initiative.
"The only version of this bill that we have seen is one that the Republicans put out, and it has four major areas that are problems," Warren told reporters prior to the vote. She characterized it as a measure that would "supercharge Donald Trump's corruption," undermine national security, compromise consumer protection, and pose "a substantial risk of eventually blowing up the U.S. economy."
Pro-crypto Democrats remain hopeful of crafting a compromise that could lead to advancement of the legislation.
"While we've made meaningful progress on the GENIUS Act, the work is not yet complete, and I simply cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation when the text isn't yet finished,” remarked Sen. Mark Warner, a pivotal Democratic holdout involved in negotiations this week. “I remain fully committed to getting this right. I plan to continue working with my colleagues to strengthen this legislation and move it forward in a way that promotes innovation while protecting the interests of the American people.”
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
The vote resulted in a narrow 48-49 defeat for the crypto bill, which followed a tumultuous week of negotiations aimed at persuading key Democratic holdouts to support the effort.
All Democrats, along with three Republicans—including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri—opposed the motion, which needed 60 votes to pass. Democratic negotiators aimed to postpone the vote until the following week to allow for additional discussions on potential amendments, but Republican leaders decided to push forward.
“We need time,” remarked Sen. Ruben Gallego, who previously supported an earlier version of the bill in committee and played a key role in this week’s negotiations for Democrats. “We’re not shutting down. We don’t want to shut this down to the point where we are ending all this work we have put into it. We want to bring this economy and this innovation to the United States.”
This vote represents a notable defeat for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and pro-crypto Republicans, potentially jeopardizing the GOP's broader efforts to advance multiple industry-friendly digital assets bills this year. Thune, who voted against the legislation, has initiated a motion to reconsider, allowing him the opportunity to revisit the issue.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, the bill's primary sponsor, expressed on the Senate floor that voting against the motion equated to a vote “to kill the crypto industry here in America, and it’s a shame.” He and fellow Republicans urged Democrats to support the procedural motion, which would have provided extra time before the final passage vote.
“If senators would like the opportunity to make further modification to the bill, I encourage them to vote for cloture,” Thune stated during Thursday’s floor debate. “Once we’re on the bill, we can discuss changes here on the floor. We’ve had an open process on this bill so far, so why stop now?”
The proposed legislation aims to establish the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins—digital tokens linked to the dollar. While the bill had previously garnered bipartisan backing, it faced hurdles over the weekend when nine anticipated Democratic supporters withdrew their support for the latest version introduced by GOP leaders.
Key Republicans, including Hagerty and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, worked diligently throughout the week to convince those holdouts, holding several closed-door meetings to negotiate changes that might attract Democratic votes. However, those discussions did not lead to an actionable agreement in time to sway enough Democrats.
Some Democratic holdouts who did not participate in this week's talks indicated uncertainty about any potential deal just before the vote.
"I'm not going to vote for something if I don't know what's in it," stated Sen. John Hickenlooper, who had signed a Democratic statement earlier in the week expressing dissatisfaction with the most recent version of the bill. "We've gone through versions before where they say something's in the text and then it's not there in the way we thought it should be there."
Conversely, Sen. Elizabeth Warren viewed the outcome as a win, having opposed the GOP-led stablecoin initiative.
"The only version of this bill that we have seen is one that the Republicans put out, and it has four major areas that are problems," Warren told reporters prior to the vote. She characterized it as a measure that would "supercharge Donald Trump's corruption," undermine national security, compromise consumer protection, and pose "a substantial risk of eventually blowing up the U.S. economy."
Pro-crypto Democrats remain hopeful of crafting a compromise that could lead to advancement of the legislation.
"While we've made meaningful progress on the GENIUS Act, the work is not yet complete, and I simply cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation when the text isn't yet finished,” remarked Sen. Mark Warner, a pivotal Democratic holdout involved in negotiations this week. “I remain fully committed to getting this right. I plan to continue working with my colleagues to strengthen this legislation and move it forward in a way that promotes innovation while protecting the interests of the American people.”
Olivia Brown for TROIB News
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