Senate Panel Advances CLARITY Act, Clears Path for August Vote

On May 14 the Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 to advance the CLARITY Act, a bill to set federal rules for digital assets. Galaxy Research raised its estimate of the bill’s chances of becoming law in 2026 to 75% and projected a possible presidential signing the week of Aug. 3 if negotiators reconcile competing drafts quickly.

All Republican committee members voted for the bill. Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland joined them to move the legislation forward, and both lawmakers warned their committee votes did not guarantee support on the Senate floor.

The Banking Committee text must be merged with a version approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee before Senate leaders can schedule floor debate. Galaxy’s timeline assumes negotiators begin reconciling drafts in early June, start floor consideration around mid‑June and secure final Senate passage by the end of June. That schedule would leave July for House‑Senate negotiations and potentially allow the House to vote on a final bill in late July.

The White House is seeking a faster timetable. Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, stated the administration is targeting July 4 for congressional passage, a deadline that would require an accelerated sequence of action in both chambers.

Galaxy estimates Senate floor debate could take about a week. Extended disputes over policy or procedure would reduce the remaining number of working weeks before the August recess and complicate scheduling.

Lawmakers left several significant issues unresolved during the markup. Democratic negotiators pressed for ethics language that would limit senior federal officials and their family members from profiting from, promoting, or holding certain digital‑asset interests while federal crypto rules are developed. Galaxy expects some form of an ethics amendment to be offered during floor debate and described that language as the most important outstanding element for securing broader Democratic support.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized the bill, calling it “doesn’t lift even the tiniest finger to address the Trump Administration’s crypto-related corruption.”

Other disputed areas include provisions on decentralized finance and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. Law‑enforcement‑oriented senators raised concerns that parts of the bill could limit oversight of decentralized protocols, validators or other infrastructure providers. Negotiators incorporated an amendment package from Sen. Cynthia Lummis during the Banking Committee markup; several Democrats supported portions of that compromise, but only Gallego and Alsobrooks voted to advance the bill in committee.

A committee vote clears an early procedural hurdle but does not guarantee passage on the Senate floor. Supporters will need enough Democratic backing to overcome practical obstacles to consideration, and House negotiators must reconcile any Senate‑approved language with their own crypto framework before a final bill can reach President Donald Trump.

With a limited number of working weeks before the August recess and a midterm election year approaching, timing is a central constraint. Under Galaxy’s projected timeline, negotiators would need to avoid extended fights over ethics, DeFi rules, stablecoin rewards or anti‑money‑laundering provisions to meet a late‑July House vote and a potential early‑August presidential signature. Any significant delay in committee reconciliation or floor scheduling would likely push final action past the congressional recess.