House Republicans, who have spent years developing legislation on cryptocurrency that Senate Democrats have been reluctant to support, are preparing to take up the Senate’s stablecoin bill and a broader ‘market structure’ plan aimed at reforming securities and commodities rules impacting crypto trading.
The big hurdle for House Republicans is that Trump and Senate Republicans aren’t on board with amending the stablecoin bill or using it as a vehicle for broader crypto policy changes. Trump has stated he wants a ‘clean’ version of the bill ‘lightning fast,’ with key GOP senators indicating they won’t take up a market structure overhaul until September. Senate Republicans argue that it would be nearly impossible to secure Democratic support for a revised stablecoin bill.
Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), the lead sponsor of the Senate’s stablecoin bill, known as the GENIUS Act, acknowledged the difficulty of obtaining Democratic votes. ‘For me to get eight or nine Democrats to vote for something here is extraordinarily difficult to do,’ he said.
House Financial Services Chair French Hill’s sweeping market structure bill, which is the centerpiece of the House GOP’s crypto push, is also undergoing last-minute negotiations among House lawmakers ahead of the upcoming floor vote. Hill is striving to secure broad bipartisan support to enhance its political viability for the Senate. However, some Democrats who have previously supported the measure are withholding backing unless the bill includes restrictions on the Trump family’s involvement in the crypto industry.
Representative Jim Himes, a senior Connecticut Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, indicated that addressing concerns about conflict of interest, particularly regarding the Trump family’s crypto entanglements, could be a decisive factor in gaining Democratic support. ‘For me, and I suspect for some other Democrats, if we can satisfy this question of conflict of interest—meaning there’s a prohibition on the president being an issuer—a lot of us can get to ‘yes,’ he said. ‘They’re working in good faith to try to get us to ‘yes.”
Meanwhile, other key developments are unfolding on Capitol Hill. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the Hill on Tuesday for meetings with Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer. Senate Armed Services is also beginning subcommittee markups of the National Defense Authorization Act at 4:30 p.m. The full panel will debate and vote on the entire package starting Wednesday at 9:45 a.m., potentially extending the process over several days. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) is preparing to offer amendments to Trump’s request to reclaim $9.4 billion in already-approved funding, with the details of her desired changes beginning to take shape.