Trump pushes Senate to pass the Clarity Act as crypto regulation enters its final lap
The president's Truth Social nudge puts pressure on Democrats holding up a bill that could reshape how digital assets are regulated in the US
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on July 13, 2026, to call on the Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, better known as the CLARITY Act. The appeal framed the legislation as both a tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham and a strategic move to keep the US ahead of China in digital assets and artificial intelligence.
This is not a bill that just arrived. The House passed it on July 17, 2025, by a convincing 294-134 margin. It cleared the Senate Banking Committee on May 14, 2026, by a 15-9 vote that included two Democratic crossovers. But the full Senate floor vote is where things get complicated.
What the bill actually does
The CLARITY Act draws a regulatory boundary that the industry has been asking for since roughly forever. In plain terms: the SEC gets oversight of digital assets that look like securities, and the CFTC gets oversight of digital commodities.
The Senate math and why it is harder than it looks
Senate passage requires 60 votes to clear a filibuster. Republicans cannot get there alone, which means the bill needs at least seven Democratic votes. The Senate Banking Committee vote showed two Democrats willing to cross the aisle, but seven is a different conversation.
The sticking point is ethics. Sens. Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen have publicly flagged concerns about provisions they view as insufficiently addressing Trump’s family’s involvement in the digital asset space. The argument is essentially that the president pushing a bill that could benefit entities connected to his family’s crypto holdings creates a conflict of interest that the legislation does not adequately police.
Trump’s plan involves direct engagement with senators to work through those objections.
Polymarket put the odds of CLARITY Act enactment in 2026 at roughly 45% as of mid-July.
Competing bills and the broader regulatory wave
The CLARITY Act is not operating in a vacuum. The GENIUS Act, which covers stablecoin regulation, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act are both moving through Congress in parallel. Together, they represent the most concentrated legislative push on digital finance the US has ever attempted.
The August 2026 recess is the practical deadline. If the Senate does not act before lawmakers scatter for the summer, the bill faces a significantly longer timeline and a more uncertain political environment heading into the back half of the year.