- The U.S. Senate did not pass a vote to advance the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill, with the motion failing due to a lack of support for cloture.
- Democratic senators requested more time to review and debate the bill, while Republicans accused Democrats of blocking bipartisan progress.
- Concerns were raised about potential conflicts of interest involving former President Trump and his family’s connections to cryptocurrency.
The U.S. Senate on Thursday was unable to advance the GENIUS Act, a proposed regulation on stablecoins, after a cloture vote failed to achieve the required majority. Forty-nine senators voted in favor while forty-eight were opposed, but Senate leader John Thune then switched his vote to “no,” allowing the Senate to bring up the bill again at a future date.
The vote did not address the substance of the GENIUS Act, but whether to end debate—known as cloture—which needs support from 60 percent of senators present. According to the Senate proceedings, Republican senators Josh Hawley and Rand Paul joined Democrats in opposing the motion. Cloture votes are used to prevent filibusters, or extended debate, on legislation.
Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego acknowledged recent bipartisan efforts to improve the bill’s content, stating in the Senate, “The reason you’re hearing some hesitancy is (something of) this scope and importance really cannot be rushed. And we need time, both to educate our colleagues and people.” Senator Gallego suggested combining Thursday’s failed vote with a debate and subsequent vote on the following Monday, believing this could create a pathway to a bipartisan resolution.
A request to postpone the cloture vote required unanimous approval from the Senate; however, an objection—believed by observers to have come from Senator Elizabeth Warren—prevented the delay. Additional objections were cited around reported conflicts of interest involving President Trump and cryptocurrencies. Specifically, concerns were mentioned regarding a recently disclosed event where $TRUMP memecoin holders were promised a dinner with the former president. Furthermore, last week it was revealed that a stablecoin connected to the Trump family, USD1, was used in a $2 billion transaction by a UAE-based firm chaired by the country’s national security adviser.
After the vote, Senate majority leader John Thune expressed disappointment, emphasizing that the GENIUS Act had bipartisan origins and was advanced through committee with Democratic support. “If Democrats were interested in making further changes as they claim, they would have had the chance to make those changes on the floor. All they had to do was vote for cloture. Not every bill that comes to the floor is the final bill,” he stated, noting that the legislation had already undergone six revisions.
Thune continued by questioning whether the delay was due to the bill or a political strategy. “It makes you wonder if this is about the bill at all. Or, if it’s simply Democrats obstructing because they want to deny Republicans or President Trump a bipartisan win. Given the fact that the Democrats keep moving the goalposts, it’s hard not to suspect that that is the case,” he said.
The Senate may revisit the GENIUS Act in the coming days if leadership calls for another vote.
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