US cryptocurrency legislation has entered the final weeks of the Republican-controlled Congress, and the passage of the CLARITY Act remains stalled, leaving the appointment of candidates to financial regulators as one of the few cryptocurrency-related decisions lawmakers can make before January.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, in a November 15 post, criticized Democrats over consumer protections in the proposed market structure bill. She said Democrats had demanded mandatory SEC registration requiring crypto projects to certify their offerings before selling them to the public, but voted against the bill containing that provision.
The disagreement followed the November 3 midterm elections, when Democrats took control of both chambers. Republicans will retain their majority until the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027, but industry representatives expect there will be little time for another major attempt at cryptocurrency legislation.
CLARITY bill still unpassed after September Senate vote
The Digital Asset Market Clarity bill failed on September 15, after senators voted 49 to 50 to end debate on the bill. Passage of the decision required 60 votes, 11 votes short of the required threshold. Senator Thom Tillis introduced a motion to reconsider, which provides a possible procedural path to return the bill to the House of Representatives, but does not guarantee a second vote.
The House passed the bill 294 to 134 in July 2025. Seventy-eight Democrats voted in favor, demonstrating that some lawmakers from the party supported the market structure framework, even as others disputed the market protections contained in the text.
Lummis’s latest criticism focused on the proposed mandatory SEC disclosure requirement. “Democrats demanded mandatory disclosure through the SEC,” she wrote, before claiming they rejected the consumer protections they themselves had sought. Her statement reflects the Republican senator’s position in the ongoing dispute over which agency should oversee digital asset offerings and trading.
Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, said he sees “little hope” of significant progress before lawmakers finish their work. He attributed this to competing year-end priorities and a sense that House members have already forgotten about the CLARITY bill’s failure.
