What could happen if the CLARITY Act fails to pass in 2026 — SkimNews
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- Senate Majority Leader John Thune scheduled a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act for Tuesday, requiring 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and signaling a narrow window before 2027.
- Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of CLARITY's biggest supporters, warned on Sept. 6 that the next real opportunity to pass the bill might not come until 2030; she is not running for reelection in 2026.
- November's midterm elections could shift one or both chambers to Democrats, with prediction markets favoring a Democratic House and a roughly coin-flip Senate.
- Fairshake PAC, backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, spent roughly $189,000 on ads supporting Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss after he voted for the CLARITY Act.
- Senator Sherrod Brown, ousted in 2024 after crypto-backed PACs flooded his race, is running in a special election against Republican Jon Husted for JD Vance's former Ohio seat.
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig have signaled plans to pursue digital asset regulation even if Congress fails to advance the CLARITY Act this year.
- The White House stays in Republican hands until January 2029, meaning Trump could veto any Democrat-crafted crypto bill without a two-thirds congressional supermajority to override.
Why it matters: With fewer than 36 Senate business days left and Lummis warning of a 2030 delay, the crypto industry's six-figure PAC spending faces a hard deadline. Even if Democrats win one or both chambers, Trump's veto pen keeps Atkins at the SEC and Selig at the CFTC as the regulators who will shape digital asset rules through 2028 regardless of CLARITY's fate.
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