The CLARITY Act fell short of passage on September 15 with 49 votes in favor and 50 opposed, leaving supporters 11 votes short of the 60 needed. However, internal fractures within the supporting coalition have emerged, with four Republican senators who voted yes also signing onto an amendment that would substantially alter the bill's stablecoin provisions.
Senators John Cornyn, John Curtis, Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Lisa Murkowski all voted to advance the bill while simultaneously backing an amendment led by Senator Jerry Moran. The amendment, which has received backing from banking groups, would tighten restrictions on how stablecoin issuers can reward customers.
The Stablecoin Amendment
Moran's amendment targets language in CLARITY that prohibits stablecoin rewards that are "economically or functionally equivalent to the payment of interest." The proposed revision would replace this standard with broader language covering anything "substantially similar to the manner in which depository institutions pay interest or yield."
The amendment would also remove a subsection allowing issuers to calculate certain rewards using account balances, holding duration, or customer tenure. Banking groups argue that stablecoin rewards routed through exchanges, affiliates, or loyalty programs can function like deposit interest, potentially drawing deposits away from community banks.
The Vote-Count Challenge
If all four senators switched to opposing the bill on a future vote, the yes total would fall to 45, expanding the gap to 15 votes. Under the most optimistic scenario for supporters, these four would remain yes votes even without their requested stablecoin changes, while negotiators convert 11 additional senators who voted no or did not vote in September.
Under a more challenging scenario, bank-aligned Republicans could treat their amendment as a condition for support, withholding votes until stablecoin language meets their demands. This would force negotiators to address two separate battles simultaneously: the stablecoin dispute with bank-backed Republicans and ethics provisions that have blocked Democratic support.
Broader Negotiation Dynamics
The stablecoin fight represents a separate negotiation from the ethics dispute that has consumed much of the public debate around CLARITY. Democrats have pushed for stronger provisions addressing public officials' financial interests in cryptocurrency, and the September 14 draft included new enforcement roles for state attorneys general. That revision produced zero Democratic support when the cloture vote occurred the next day.
Banking groups have continued publicly requesting the amendment's changes since the failed September vote. The Senate remains in session into early October before its pre-midterm recess, though no new vote date has been set. Senator Thom Tillis voted no as soon as the tally came in and entered a motion to reconsider, keeping CLARITY eligible for another vote without requiring the bill to restart.
