The House of Representatives advanced a trio of cryptocurrency bills and a 2026 Defense spending measure late Wednesday, following a chaotic day of negotiations that saw GOP hard-liners drop their opposition to the effort. The breakthrough came after House leaders agreed to attach a measure banning a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to a must-pass defense authorization bill, effectively resolving the deadlock.
The vote, which lasted over nine hours, saw the House approve the bills with a narrow margin of 217-212. The legislative standoff was between GOP hard-liners and the chairs of the Financial Services and Agriculture committees, who crafted the legislation. The hard-liners had previously blocked a procedural vote on the bills, fearing that merging the crypto market structure bill with separate legislation to ban CBDCs would jeopardize Democratic support. However, the compromise to include the CBDC ban in the defense bill secured their agreement.
The deal came after a late-night meeting in the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump, who called in at the very end of the discussions, reportedly expressed satisfaction with the agreement. Johnson stated that the resolution allows the House to proceed with adopting the crypto bills, with a vote on the Senate-approved stablecoin legislation expected on Thursday. A vote on the CLAR,ITY Act could follow by next week.
The stablecoin legislation, known as the GENIUS Act, is expected to be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk and, if signed, would mark the first major crypto bill ever passed by Congress, representing a major lobbying victory for crypto firms. The procedural vote also cleared the way for the House to move swiftly on an amended package of spending clawbacks requested by Trump, which senators are also working to approve ahead of a Friday deadline.