Senate Democrats blocked a major cryptocurrency bill on Tuesday, delivering a setback for President Trump’s tech agenda.
One of the last major policy pushes before the midterms, the bill’s passage was blocked by Democrats who said it would improperly favor the cryptocurrency industry and the president’s investments.
Every Senate Democrat voted against advancing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act — legislation designed to clear up confusion on how federal regulators share oversight of cryptocurrency.
It failed in a 50-49 vote, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster and advance the bill.
“Democrats blocked the Clarity Act because they’d rather obsess over President Trump’s personal finances than establish the necessary guardrails to secure American leadership in digital assets,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, after the bill died.
Every Republican supported the bill except for Sens. Susan M. Collins of Maine and Jerry Moran of Kansas. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina switched his vote to a no in a procedural move that allows him to bring up the bill for reconsideration.
Democrats said the bill’s ethics provisions for government officials were too weak.
The Clarity Act would divide oversight of the industry between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with the latter bearing most of the burden.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed for the bill’s passage, calling it “essential to ensuring America wins the global race for new technology.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, said the bill would threaten financial stability by expanding cryptocurrency’s role in banking and would allow the president to profit from cryptocurrency investments.
“Voting to proceed to this bill is a vote to bless Donald Trump’s corruption and to put American families, the American economy, and our national security at risk,” she said.
The president reported over $1.4 billion in income from cryptocurrency in 2025. He has said that he’s not directly involved in his investments.
In an effort to win over Democrats, Republicans added language blocking the president from issuing or sponsoring a cryptocurrency and allowing state attorneys general to enforce ethics provisions against federal officials.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican, called it “the strongest ethics restrictions any president has ever accepted.”
Democrats such as Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona demanded additional ethics provisions, such as requiring government officials to completely divest their interests in cryptocurrency companies and extending ethics restrictions to officials’ children.
“It’s becoming clear that some Democrats simply won’t get to yes, no matter what we put in the text,” Ms. Lummis wrote on social media ahead of the vote. “President Trump has now agreed to two historic ethics provisions — provisions these very members demanded. We’ve given you everything you’ve asked for, yet you keep holding the bill hostage, demanding more and more and more.”
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