Democrats Split on Clarity Act as Crypto Bill Passes Key Senate Committee Vote

The Senate Banking Committee has voted to advance the Clarity Act, a key piece of cryptocurrency legislation, to a full Senate vote.

Senate Democrats splintered Thursday in their support of the Clarity Act during the crucial vote, with two pro-crypto members of the party voting for the landmark crypto bill, and all others voting against.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) voted for the legislation, despite the fact both had indicated they would not do so unless a deal on language related to limiting President Donald Trump’s personal crypto ventures had been met by the time of today’s vote. No such deal has yet been reached.

During the Senate Banking hearing, all Republican committee members joined Gallego and Alsobrooks to support the bill, which now moves to the Senate floor for final consideration. If passed and signed into law by President Trump, the Clarity Act would formally legalize most crypto activity in the United States. 

The bill will need support from at least seven Democrats on the Senate floor to ultimately pass.

An Alsobrooks spokesperson previously told Decrypt the senator would only vote for the Clarity Act at committee if “a substantive agreement on ethics” was struck.

When reached after today’s vote, the spokesperson told Decrypt Alsobrooks voted yes “because of the good faith negotiations that have transpired,” and added the senator “will continue negotiating on ethics specifically.”

At the hearing, Gallego qualified his “yes” vote by saying it may change in the future if an ethics deal regarding the president isn’t reached.

“We have come close, but not finished, an agreement on ethics guardrails for elected officials—all elected officials,” Gallego said.

“If this is not resolved by the time of the floor [vote], like I have in the past, I am not afraid to vote no,” he added.

President Trump and his family have invested in numerous crypto ventures since his 2024 re-election campaign. The president co-founded a crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, which has gone on to make lucrative deals with foreign nations, and, just days before his inauguration, launched a meme coin which surged to a valuation of nearly $80 billion before crashing in value.

Just last month, Trump hosted top holders of the meme coin at Mar-a-Lago for a private gala where he discussed the Iran war, among other subjects.

Gallego and Alsobrooks’ splintering from other pro-crypto Democrats on the Banking Committee, who all voted no today, followed warnings from crypto industry watchdog Stand With Crypto, which earlier this week announced it would score lawmakers based on today’s vote.

Coinbase is a key backer of Fairshake, a crypto super PAC that plans to spend over $100 million on November’s midterm elections.

Gallego and Alsobrooks both currently enjoy sterling “A” ratings from Stand With Crypto, and Fairshake spent heavily to back Gallego’s upstart Senate campaign in 2024.

“Stand With Crypto scored senators’ votes on the Banking Committee markup and will incorporate these into lawmakers’ scores… so that every voter can understand where elected officials stand on crypto priorities,” the organization said in a statement shared with Decrypt following today’s vote.

Procedural drama defined today’s Senate Banking hearing, with committee chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) refusing to hold votes on certain amendments to the Clarity Act that would have proven uncomfortable for his Republican colleagues.

One such amendment would have forced lawmakers to choose a side in a long-running feud between the banking lobby and the crypto industry over yield on stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar. Another would have likely seen Republicans vote down changes to the bill’s provisions on decentralized finance requested by law enforcement.

Making matters more tense was the fact Scott claimed he was preventing those votes due to a technical drafting error—but then proceeded to hold a vote on other amendments with the same drafting issues.

“I am deeply concerned that law enforcement officials… [and] community banks will listen to this and wonder why their point of view just couldn’t be heard,” Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the Banking Committee’s top Democrat, said during the skirmish.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to include additional details.