Senate leadership plans to tee up a vote on legislation creating a framework for payment stablecoins this week, even as a contingent of crypto-friendly Senate Democrats pull their support for the bill.<\/p>\n
Republicans are preparing to bring the GENIUS Act to the floor Thursday, according to a source familiar with planning work. <\/p>\n
However, nine Democratic senators who previously supported the bill said in a statement Saturday that they would not be able to vote for the current version.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have approached this process constructively and with an open mind, with the understanding that additional improvements to the bill would be made,\u201d the senators said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the bill as it currently stands still has numerous issues that must be addressed, including adding stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, national security, preserving the safety and soundness of our financial system, and accountability for those who don\u2019t meet the act\u2019s requirements,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n
Among the Democrats voicing concerns are Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Mark Warner (Va.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) and Andy Kim (N.J.), all of whom voted to advance the bill<\/a> out of the Senate Banking Committee in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gallego, ranking member on the panel\u2019s Digital Assets Subcommittee, argued Sunday that this wasn\u2019t \u201csome reversal out of nowhere\u201d by Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact of the matter is, Dems, including me and my team, were trying to negotiate with the Republicans for weeks,\u201d he wrote on the social platform X. \u201cThe bill that was introduced for floor consideration back-pedaled on a lot of the progress we made and did not include other improvements we sought.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems they want us to suck it up and vote for this bill without our input. That\u2019s not what we expected during this negotiation and not how I operate. Our statement makes clear we won\u2019t let them jam us. Looking forward to continuing to get this bill to a better place.\u201d <\/p>\n The pushback emerged after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) launched a process Thursday to fast-track the legislation.<\/p>\n A Democratic aide familiar with talks told The Hill that the move took Democratic lawmakers by surprise, as they had not seen the floor text before it was released.<\/p>\n This sparked a tense debate at a closed-door Democratic meeting Thursday, according to Axios. New crypto ventures by President Trump and his family have also prompted additional concerns.<\/p>\n Trump, who vowed to make the U.S. the \u201ccrypto capital of the planet\u201d during the election, has raised eyebrows as he and his family simultaneously expand their crypto portfolio.<\/p>\n World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm launched by the president and his sons, announced last week that an Emirati company planned to use the firm\u2019s new stablecoin to conduct a $2 billion transaction with Binance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, pointed to the deal as she urged lawmakers to vote down the stablecoin bill Sunday. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump family stablecoin surged to 7th largest in the world because of a shady crypto deal with the United Arab Emirates\u2014a foreign government that will give them a crazy amount of money,\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cThe Senate shouldn\u2019t pass a crypto bill this week to facilitate this kind of corruption.\u201d <\/p>\n Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, also plans to block a hearing<\/a> on market structure legislation Tuesday after Republicans declined to include provisions blocking Trump from profiting from the industry. \u00a0<\/p>\n House Democrats will instead hold their own hearing to investigate Trump\u2019s crypto ties, including World Liberty Financial and his meme coin.<\/p>\n As Democratic support for the stablecoin legislation falters, it threatens to upend a key priority for Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration, who have set their sights on getting stablecoin and market structure bills across the finish line by August. <\/p>\n Al Weaver contributed.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senate leadership plans to tee up a vote on legislation creating a framework for payment stablecoins this week, even as a contingent of crypto-friendly Senate Democrats pull their support for<\/p>\n