Majority Leader Thune files cloture on Clarity Act, setting up Sept. 15 Senate vote

Quick Take

• Shortly before the Senate left for its August recess, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Clarity Act early Saturday.
• The Senate is set to vote on the motion on Tuesday, Sept. 15, the day after the body returns.
• Invoking cloture, which does not pass the bill, takes 60 votes; negotiators have yet to resolve disputes over ethics clauses, illicit finance, and how Senate Agriculture Committee text gets folded in.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture early Saturday on the motion to proceed to debate over the Clarity Act, giving the crypto market structure bill a path to the floor when lawmakers return from their August recess next month.

Thune (R-S.D.) filed the motion at 4:52 a.m. ET, according to the Senate Press Gallery's floor log, at the end of an overnight session that ran past the chamber's scheduled Friday departure. Thune first filed cloture on the nomination of Matthew R. Byrne to be a federal district judge in Ohio and then on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

The gallery lists a 5:30 p.m. cloture vote Monday on the Byrne nomination. Under an agreement reached by the Senate early Saturday reported by Crypto in America's Eleanor Terrett, the chamber will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the Clarity Act at 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Invoking cloture would limit debate on the motion to proceed; it would not pass the bill or begin debate on the legislation itself. Republicans hold 53 seats, so the motion would need support from at least seven Democrats or independents if every Republican voted for it.

Thune told The Block late Thursday that the procedural vote was slipping to September, saying Democrats had insisted on no Clarity vote before the break. "We're getting that queued up first thing when we come back," he said at the time.

Sticking points

Filing cloture does not settle the disputes that kept the bill off the floor. A Senate Democratic staffer told The Block last week that the party was focused on three issues: ethics, illicit finance and how Senate Agriculture Committee text gets folded in.

Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) sent an ethics compromise to the White House last month that would let state attorneys general enforce a ban on public officials and their spouses issuing or sponsoring digital assets. The compromise would also require President Trump to divest from crypto-related businesses, though Trump has not signed off on it.

Republican support has also wavered. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has said he will not vote for the bill until it addresses deposit flight.

Industry reaction

In a statement posted to X, Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim called the filing "a critical step forward," while noting the group had hoped for full Senate consideration before the recess. CCI said it plans to work with both Republicans and Democrats over the August recess to secure the votes needed for passage in September.

Galaxy Research cut its odds of the Clarity Act becoming law in 2026 from 50% to 30% last month, citing the shrinking Senate calendar.

Senate lawmakers will return to Washington on Sept. 14, leaving a narrow window to debate and vote on the Clarity Act before their attention shifts to the upcoming November midterms.