Is Trump using the CLARITY Act as leverage in broader negotiations?
As President Trump rearranges the legislative priorities, the CLARITY Act gets stuck in another bottleneck.
The July 4 deadline for the CLARITY Act’s passage looks set to lapse without approval. Nearly a year has already passed since the U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill in July 2025.
Since then, it has encountered numerous obstacles in Congress. This includes opposition from the stablecoin industry regarding rewards and ethical concerns from lawmakers. Interestingly, the current delay is because the bill is now being used as leverage in larger negotiations by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump’s move sent shockwaves
According to the latest update, President Trump called off the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
The bill featured a ban on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and was supported by both parties in both chambers of Congress. In March, Trump had declared that he would “not sign other bills” until Republicans in Congress passed the SAVE America Act.
This has created a Senate scheduling crunch, directly squeezing the CLARITY Act’s chances of passage before the August recess.
Senators are hopeful of the CLARITY Act
Even though Trump has retreated, Senator Tim Scott has stated his support for advancing the bill as soon as possible.
The push also comes from the fact that Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee have already put forward a bipartisan proposal.
Taken together, the urgency stems from worries that extended regulatory ambiguity may push crypto’s ecosystem to nations with more defined legal systems. Because of this, Scott contends that the Senate should move quickly to pass the legislation.
Is the 4th July deadline realistic?
That said, the bill might also lose steam if Republicans are unable to obtain the required sixty votes before the Senate’s August recess. It’s possible that congressional priorities will shift as a result of many lawmakers refocusing on reelection campaigns. This, in turn, would delay the CLARITY Act’s consideration until the following session of Congress in 2027.
Galaxy Research has lowered its outlook for the CLARITY Act from 60% to 50%. This marks a sharp contrast to early June, when optimism was high, even within the White House, that the crypto market structure bill would be passed by its original July 4 deadline.
Final Summary
- Donald Trump called off the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
- With this blocker, the 4th of July deadline looks dicey for the approval of the CLARITY Act.
