CLARITY Act News: What’s Really Blocking a Vote Before August Recess

Senator Cynthia Lummis says the CLARITY Act isn’t stuck because of one problem. It’s stuck in a Senate calendar jammed with five other priorities all fighting for the same limited floor time before lawmakers leave for August recess.

Lummis, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Digital Assets, told Fox Business the chamber likely won’t finish by Friday as originally hoped, meaning senators will probably work through the weekend instead.

What’s Competing for Time

CLARITY is competing against a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September, a reconciliation package still being assembled by Budget Chairman Ron Johnson, a name-image-and-likeness bill from Senators Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell, and Eric Schmitt, and Russia sanctions legislation she expects to pass before August.

The continuing resolution comes first, she said, since “we cannot allow us to go into the August campaigning break with the government shutdown.”

Where the Ethics Fight Stands

Lummis said negotiators worked late into the previous night on the bill’s CFTC provisions and continue refining law enforcement language, which she said has started drawing support from law enforcement groups.

She pointed to one detail she called unprecedented: the president agreed to an ethics provision limiting his own activity, something no previous president has done. Democrats have sent back a counterproposal now sitting with the White House.

Who Gets Blamed If It Fails

Because the bill will get an actual floor vote, Lummis argued responsibility for its fate now falls on whoever doesn’t provide the votes. “If this bill dies, the Democrats are going to have to kill it,” she said, citing 11 months of negotiation and more than 300 pages added at Democrats’ request.

Politics in the Background

She also tied the broader slowdown to the midterms, pointing to Michigan’s tight Democratic Senate primary between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens as a sign of where party energy is shifting, calling the progressive agenda “truly unamerican.”

She said she expects Republicans to narrowly hold the Senate and confirmed she’ll campaign this fall for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

What Happens This Week

By her count, CLARITY, the NIL bill, and the continuing resolution are positioned to get votes this week, while reconciliation and the farm bill may wait until September.