Ethics dispute blocks CLARITY Act in Senate vote

The Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act after a motion to proceed on H.R. 3633 fell short of the 60 votes needed for cloture on Sept. 15, 2026. Several Democrats who helped negotiate the bill opposed the measure’s ethics provisions related to former President Donald Trump and his family’s crypto interests.

Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Catherine Cortez Masto voted against moving the bill forward, depriving Republicans of the Democratic support they had sought and keeping the measure off the Senate floor.

Negotiations collapsed in the final hours before the vote over limits on crypto-related financial interests for public officials. Senate staff met in the Capitol hideaway office of Sen. Thom Tillis to try to resolve outstanding differences; staff for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott ended the talks without an agreement. Republicans released a 635-page final text over the weekend and said it incorporated 126 substantive changes Democrats had requested. They also said President Trump agreed to tougher restrictions on crypto-related financial interests held by senior officials, but those changes did not secure enough votes.

Elissa Slotkin criticized the ethics package as insufficient and warned that rules must prevent future administrations from benefiting from crypto ventures. She also raised concerns about anti-money-laundering gaps and whether agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would have the staffing and oversight needed to enforce a new regulatory framework.

Bernie Sanders connected his opposition to the crypto industry’s political spending and the financial ties of Trump-linked crypto ventures. He pointed to figures he presented showing nearly $300 million in crypto industry spending during the midterm elections and more than $1.4 billion tied to Trump and his family from crypto-related ventures, and urged colleagues to reject the bill.

The failed cloture vote does not determine the bill’s final fate but prevents it from reaching the floor for debate and amendments. Sponsors must decide whether to reopen negotiations, likely requiring another round of talks on the ethics package that divided negotiators. Several senators who opposed the motion said they remained open to further discussions and noted parts of the bill that could serve as a basis for future legislation, leaving the measure’s timeline uncertain.