Crypto bills advance after record stalemate in GOP House
After a record-breaking nine hours, the GOP-led House late Wednesday night finally advanced a trio of crypto bills to the floor for debate and consideration by a vote of 217-212.
The step forward came after several Republican holdouts ultimately flipped their votes after receiving assurances from GOP House leaders that one of the measures -- a bill to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) -- would be attached to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
"Attaching our Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act to the NDAA will ensure unelected bureaucrats are NEVER allowed to trade Americans' financial privacy for a CCP-style surveillance tool," House GOP Whip Tom Emmer said in a statement on X. President Donald Trump "has made it clear: our legislation is a key piece of our America First agenda, and we will deliver," Emmer went on to say in the statement.
For several hours Wednesday, the House was locked in standstill with nine Republicans voting no and two others withholding their vote as the vote remained open for several hours -- eventually breaking a record for the longest House vote in recent history. The previous record was set earlier this month with the rule vote for the Trump megabill.
During the long stall, House Speaker Mike Johnson huddled with holdouts in his office and, in the end, only a single Republican member -- Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia -- voted against advancing the rule.
Johnson told reporters he spoke with Trump late Wednesday.
"I'm pleased that we'll be able to get this done. The president is as well. I just spoke with him, and obviously this is a big priority for him, and it was for us," Johnson said.
Johnson emphasized that the deal "breaks the logjam, allows us to get our work done. And sometimes it takes longer than at other times, but it's all part of the process. And you all know that's how this works. We built consensus, and we got it done tonight. So, I'm very pleased," he said.
Johnson said he expects a final passage vote on the GENIUS Act as early as Thursday, but the vote on the CLARITY Act might be pushed to early next week, he said.
A day before Wednesday's record stalemate, Trump claimed he had reached a deal with GOP holdouts to advance the legislation.
On Tuesday, Trump -- who has said crypto is a top priority for his administration -- said he made a deal with the Republicans who voted against the crypto bills earlier in the day. Hard-liners claimed the deal included redoing a provision in the CLARITY Act to strengthen anti-Central Bank Digital Currency.
"Under this agreement, the Rules Committee will reconvene later today to add clear, strong anti–Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) provisions to the CLARITY legislation This is an important step to ensure Americans are protected from government overreach into their financial privacy," Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said in a post on X.
Earlier Tuesday, a dozen House Republicans bucked Trump and Johnson to prevent the legislation from advancing on the floor -- joining the entire Democratic caucus -- and, at least temporarily, freezing activity in the House.
Prior to the rule vote, drama played out on the House floor during a nearly hourlong procedural vote. Several Republicans were voting in opposition, but all ultimately flipped.
Johnson was huddling with the holdouts during the vote including Reps. Chip Roy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Anna Paulina Luna, Eli Crane, Byron Donalds, Victoria Spartz, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs and Andy Ogles. The conversations appeared at times tense.
The votes come during what the White House is calling "Crypto Week."
Trump, who launched his own crypto meme coin earlier this year, recently said he is a "fan of crypto" and called it a "very powerful industry" that the U.S. has "dominated."
"I'm president. And what I did do there is build an industry that's very important," Trump said last month. "If we didn't have it, China would."
Once a crypto skeptic, Trump and his family have fully immersed themselves in the cryptocurrency marketplace, developing not only the $TRUMP meme coin, but also a bitcoin mining firm, a stablecoin firm and a crypto reserve.
