Trump Steps Into CLARITY Act Talks: Can the Senate Deliver Before Recess?

President Donald Trump will meet senators at the White House on Thursday to review progress on the CLARITY Act. Ripple executives, meanwhile, warned that rejecting the bill would leave crypto consumers exposed to bad actors.

The bill has cleared every hurdle except the Senate floor, where it needs 60 votes. Leaders want it passed before the August recess.

Why Trump Is Stepping Into CLARITY Act Talks

Sen. Bernie Moreno told Politico that senators will update the president on Thursday afternoon. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a lead architect, said a revised draft could circulate soon, with ethics language possibly bracketed for later.

The ethics provision remains the biggest obstacle. Trump’s annual disclosure listed $635 million in meme coin royalties and roughly $515 million from World Liberty Financial token sales. Democrats want limits on officials holding crypto business interests before they supply the missing votes.

The arithmetic explains the urgency. The House passed the bill 294-134 in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15-9 in May. Only two Democrats, Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks, backed it in committee.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants a floor vote before the work period ends on August 7. However, Trump has already pushed the CLARITY Act publicly, even as a shrinking Senate window raises the stakes.

“I’m hoping that we can come up with some agreement by the end of this week. I think it’s critical if we’re going to try and get this across the floor before August recess,” Politico reported, citing Sen. Thom Tillis, who signaled negotiators are close.

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Ripple Frames a No Vote as Anti-Consumer

Ripple’s stake in the outcome is personal. The company fought the SEC for four years over XRP’s legal status. Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty argued the same uncertainty now threatens consumers.

“A vote against the Clarity Act is a vote to leave the same unregulated conditions in place to be exploited by bad actors. We’ve seen this movie. Let’s not watch the sequel,”

In the same tone, Lauren Belive, Ripple’s global public policy co-head, argued that with the delay, the regulatory gaps behind FTX’s collapse remain open.

U.S. digital asset markets are here, but the federal rules to protect consumers have not kept up. The same regulatory gaps that let bad actors like FTX collapse and wipe out customer funds are still wide open today.

— Lauren Belive (@BeliveLauren) July 15, 2026

The bill would hand the SEC and CFTC shared jurisdiction and require oversight before tokens reach the market.

Opposition persists, however. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen say the draft weakens consumer protections rather than adding them.

Separately, 78 banking groups pushed to rewrite the stablecoin yield rules. In contrast, law enforcement opposition eased on Section 604 developer liability.

Polymarket traders price passage at only 38% in 2026, suggesting waning confidence as the countdown continues.

Thursday’s meeting will show whether an ethics deal revives those odds before the clock runs out.