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Senate sets procedural vote on crypto bill
September 15, 2026
The Senate votes shortly after 2 p.m. EDT on advancing a cryptocurrency regulatory framework, after Trump agreed to tougher ethics terms Democrats sought.
The president's family has built substantial cryptocurrency holdings since his return to office, and a stablecoin law passed last year blocked lawmakers and their relatives, though not the president, from earning money on such tokens.
Key facts
- With the chamber split 53-47, Republicans cannot reach the 60-vote threshold for advancing the measure without help from Democrats.
- A June disclosure by Trump put his earnings from crypto ventures at $1.4 billion.
- Two senators — Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, joined by Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican — had floated a plan obliging Trump to shift what he holds in crypto into a blind trust, with a sale required once the value hit a set level.
- Senators are scheduled to cast that vote a little after 2 p.m. EDT.
- Further concessions came from Trump on Sunday, among them the expanded enforcement authority over the crypto measure that Democrats had pressed for on behalf of state attorneys general.
USA Today reports that senators take up the cryptocurrency measure shortly after 2 p.m. EDT, a procedural step toward a new regulatory framework. Politico reports the same timing. With 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats seated, the majority cannot reach 60 without Democratic votes, and USA Today, Politico and The Washington Post each carry that arithmetic. The same three outlets report the president's June disclosure of $1.4 billion earned through crypto ventures, and they report an industry campaign for passage costing hundreds of millions.
On the concessions the outlets converge. The Washington Post reports the president accepted tighter ethics terms that Democrats had pressed for, and USA Today, Politico and The Washington Post report Sunday's agreement handing state attorneys general broader enforcement authority. USA Today reports the rewritten text would force officeholders either to sell sizable stakes in crypto companies or to move them into a blind trust, and that it answers lenders' worry about stablecoins drawing deposits away from banks. For most Democrats that falls short, The Washington Post reports, because the party wants safeguards against the president and his relatives profiting while he holds office.
The outlets sit together on the timing, the terms and the money. The outcome is open. USA Today reports that analysts count this procedural step as a real test, with little calendar time left to rescue the measure if it falls short.
Still developing
The counterproposal Gallego said he would offer had not moved as of the draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- AP News — Senate is to vote on cryptocurrency regulation as Democrats push back on Trump investments
- USA Today — Senate to vote on advancing landmark Clarity Act crypto bill
- Politico — Trump crypto empire looms over Senate showdown
Toggle read the full reports of 2 of the 4 outlets counted on this event. The other 2 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.