Trump tells Senate 24 days to find 60 votes for CLARITY Act

On July 13, President Donald Trump urged Congress to approve the CLARITY Act before the Senate’s August recess, giving senators 24 days to assemble the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. The White House says the measure will help the United States compete with China on digital assets and artificial intelligence.

The CLARITY Act would create a federal framework for cryptocurrency trading and issuance and assign oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The bill builds on the GENIUS Act, the 2025 law that set rules for stablecoins, and aims to replace a patchwork of enforcement actions and older statutes.

Patrick Witt, the administration’s top digital-assets adviser, described the coming days as a ‘critical week’ and pointed to the July 18 anniversary of the GENIUS Act as an example of coordinated action. The president wrote that Beijing and other countries ‘would like to take complete and total control of this major financial ‘happening,’ as well as A.I., where we are now leading, but where they are fighting hard. Don’t let China win on either subject!!!’

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig urged lawmakers to set clear statutory standards for digital-asset firms, warning that relying on enforcement actions and laws written before blockchain markets emerged could risk U.S. leadership in crypto, AI and fintech. Backers argue clearer rules would improve market transparency and reduce legal uncertainty for firms and regulators.

Legislative work has advanced but not finished. The House passed its version last year. The Senate Banking and Agriculture committees approved separate proposals covering areas under SEC and CFTC jurisdiction, and negotiators are trying to merge those measures into a single Senate package. Talks have slowed and no floor vote is scheduled. The House is set to leave Washington on July 23 and the Senate on Aug. 7.

Key disputes include conflict-of-interest limits for senior officials, stablecoin reward rules, and protections for software developers. Democratic negotiators want restrictions that would bar presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and senior federal officials from profiting from digital-asset businesses while in office.

Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure reported more than $1.4 billion in crypto-related income, including about $800 million tied to World Liberty Financial and roughly $635 million linked to Trump-branded meme coin ventures. The White House has rejected claims that the president’s business interests influenced policy. The Senate Banking Committee rejected an ethics amendment in May; Democrats plan to raise the issue again before any floor vote.

Banks and community lenders are pressing for changes to the bill’s stablecoin provisions. They say the GENIUS Act’s ban on direct stablecoin interest left room for platforms to offer rewards that resemble deposit yields, which could draw funding away from traditional lenders. The Independent Community Bankers of America has launched an advertising campaign opposing what it calls preferential treatment for crypto firms. Industry representatives say lawmakers should distinguish passive interest from transaction- or participation-based rewards.

The proposal would generally prevent developers from being treated as money transmitters when they publish decentralized software and do not control customer funds. Some law-enforcement groups warned that a broad exemption could hinder investigations into money laundering and sanctions evasion. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives endorsed the CLARITY Act, saying the framework would improve investigative tools against financial crime.

Passing the bill will require navigating Senate procedure and vote arithmetic. Sponsors would likely need 60 votes to end debate. Republicans held 53 seats before Senator Lindsey Graham’s death; an interim appointee could restore that number if sworn in before a cloture vote. Only two Democrats-Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks-supported the measure in the Banking Committee markup in May and have said their final support depends on resolving outstanding ethics, consumer protection and illicit finance concerns. If negotiators cannot produce a unified text and secure the necessary votes before the August recess, the next opportunities are a brief September session or a post-election lame-duck period.