Senate Blocks CLARITY Act 49-50 With No Democratic Votes to Proceed

The Senate rejected a motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with the cloture vote ending 49-50 and failing to meet the 60-vote threshold required under a unanimous consent agreement entered on Aug. 8. Voting began at 2:18 p.m. and the result was announced at about 3:00 p.m., according to the Senate Daily Press floor log. All 49 votes in favor came from Republican senators; no Democrats supported advancing the measure. Four Republican senators — Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis — voted against proceeding. The tally left Republicans with their full 49 affirmative votes but short of the supermajority needed. Shortly after the result, Tillis made a procedural move to preserve the right to a second cloture attempt by moving to reconsider at 3:01 p.m.; a senator who voted on the prevailing side may do so to enable a later rehearing without a new filing. The Senate text that was offered as an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the House-passed H.R. 3633 follows a July House vote of 294-134. Republicans released what they called the final Senate text on Monday; the GOP release said it incorporated 126 changes Democrats had requested, including five in an ethics division. That ethics language, as described in reporting, removes a Jan. 20, 2029 sunset, reverses a prior bar on state attorneys general enforcing certain claims, and raises civil penalties to either 20% of the amount taken or $500,000, whichever is greater. Seven Democrats who spent a year negotiating the bill — Mark Warner, Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper and Raphael Warnock — said in July the Republican text "falls short," naming ethics for elected officials among areas still needing work; they did not withdraw that statement before Tuesday's vote. Outside pressure and market signals underscored the stakes. A letter signed by 18 state attorneys general urged senators to reject the bill as written, arguing it could limit state enforcement and weaken investor protections; signatories included New York, California, Illinois, Ohio, and the District of Columbia, among others. Traders and prediction markets reacted: Polymarket reduced the probability of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 6.5% after the vote, down from 29.5% earlier in the week, and major cryptocurrencies slipped — Bitcoin traded around $75,900 and Ether near $2,403, both down over 24 hours. With the Senate scheduled for an extended state work period from Oct. 5 to Nov. 6 and returning Nov. 11 after the Nov. 3 election, there are under three weeks of planned floor time before the chamber reconvenes, limiting opportunities for a second cloture vote. Majority Leader John Thune had previously filed a cloture motion on Aug. 8 with 16 Republican co-signers, and traders had already pushed passage odds into 2027 after an earlier filing left uncertainty about the timetable.