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Point of Focus
- Seven Democratic senators reaffirmed their commitment to passing crypto market structure legislation,
- The Senate rejected cloture on H.R. 3633 by 49-50.
- Democrats are pushing for stronger provisions on consumer protection and market integrity.
A group of Democratic senators has pledged to continue negotiations over the CLARITY Act despite voting against advancing the current version of the landmark US crypto market structure bill.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock reiterated their support for passing digital asset legislation after this week’s procedural defeat.
The Senate rejected cloture on H.R. 3633 on Sept. 15 by 49 votes to 50, falling short of the three-fifths threshold required to advance the measure to formal debate.
The lawmakers said the defeat represented a setback rather than the end of negotiations, maintaining that they remain committed to working across party lines on a revised framework.
Notably, Congress also advanced two major crypto measures on Sept. 16. The House Financial Services Committee moved forward H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act, which would establish a statutory Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and separate Digital Asset Stockpile at the Treasury for federally held assets obtained through forfeiture.
🚨HOUSE MARKS UP CRYPTO TAX AND BITCOIN RESERVE BILLS!@SenLummis said crypto work is still moving in the House this week.
Ways and Means is marking up a crypto tax bill.
Financial Services is marking up her Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill.
She said the fight for U.S.… pic.twitter.com/tpvRtlWipj
— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) September 16, 2026
Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) by 38-5, proposing new federal rules for crypto mining, staking, small transactions, wash sales and reporting. The tax committee says the framework could affect more than 67 million Americans who hold digital assets. Both bills cleared committee hurdles but still require further congressional approval before becoming law.
Democrats still want a crypto market structure bill
The seven senators have pushed for changes covering consumer protection, illicit finance, market integrity and conflicts of interest, while also seeking stronger ethics provisions for elected officials.
Those disagreements predate this week’s vote. In July, several of the senators said the then-current Republican-backed text did not adequately address those areas, while stressing that they intended to continue bipartisan negotiations.
🚨NEW: A group of seven Senate Democrats, including @gillibrandny, @MarkWarner, @SenRubenGallego and @Sen_Alsobrooks, say they are “committed to working in a bipartisan fashion” to pass the Clarity Act.
The statement comes amid early efforts to restart bipartisan talks and gauge… pic.twitter.com/zJV1G08RQ3
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 17, 2026
Individual senators repeated those concerns after Tuesday’s defeat.
Cortez Masto said negotiations had continued until shortly before the vote but argued that outstanding issues involving illicit finance, prediction markets and ethics had not been resolved.
Warnock similarly said he remained willing to work on legislation establishing regulatory certainty for digital asset investors, consumers and businesses despite voting against cloture.
CLARITY Act Falls Short of 60 Votes
The failed procedural vote prevented the Senate from moving ahead with H.R. 3633, which seeks to establish a clearer division of regulatory responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for digital asset markets.
🚨 JOSH HAWLEY EXPLAINS HIS NO VOTE ON THE CLARITY ACT 🚨
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was one of four Republicans (including @SenThomTillis, who switched his vote at the last minute) to break with the party and sink the crypto bill's advance in the Senate.
His reasoning:
"My… pic.twitter.com/Gf7NjVpP6D
— LindellTV (@RealLindellTV) September 16, 2026
The vote was not strictly divided along party lines. Republican Senators Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis also voted against cloture, although Tillis cast his vote in a way that allowed him to move for reconsideration afterward.
The setback leaves Congress without a comprehensive crypto market structure law, even as federal regulators continue developing digital asset rules under their existing authority.
Regulatory push continues outside Congress
The legislative defeat does not mean US crypto rulemaking has stopped.
The SEC and CFTC have continued working on digital asset regulation independently, although agency interpretations and rules do not provide the same statutory framework that congressional legislation could establish.
Now that Clarity is off the table, expect the SEC & CFTC to move quickly & aggressively in issuing addn’l guidance on crypto…
Will be regulation by innovation for at least the next two & a half years.
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) September 15, 2026
For lawmakers including Gillibrand and Booker, the next step is therefore expected to involve renewed negotiations aimed at finding language capable of securing the 60 Senate votes needed to advance.
Democratic senators have consistently said they support establishing clearer rules for crypto markets while arguing that any final compromise must also address consumer safeguards, illicit finance and ethics concerns. Their renewed commitment means the CLARITY Act debate remains active despite its latest Senate setback.
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