Trump Renews Push for Crypto Market Structure Bill as Congress Returns to Washington

President Donald Trump called on the Senate to pass the Clarity Act in a Truth Social post on July 13, urging passage “in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, a big supporter” and warning that China would like “complete and total control of this major financial ‘happening’.”

Trump framed the crypto market structure bill as critical to keeping the United States ahead in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence as competition from China intensifies. Supporters, including Senator Cynthia Lummis, have echoed the call as Congress returns to Washington, according to reports.

Graham, the South Carolina Republican, died on the evening of July 11 at age 71 after a brief and sudden illness, his office said. A preliminary finding from the District of Columbia medical examiner attributed the death to an aortic dissection.

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Bill Awaits a Senate Floor Vote

The CLARITY Act passed the House by a bipartisan 294–134 vote in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15–9 in May. The bill would split digital asset oversight between the two US market regulators, handing digital commodities to the CFTC and securities tokens to the SEC, and it needs 60 votes to clear the Senate floor.

Lummis, the bill’s lead Senate advocate, said before the recess that negotiators would “put out a text over the July 4th” holiday to give people one last thorough look, “and then we’re moving in July.” Updated bill text is expected shortly, according to reports, and supporters are targeting a vote in the roughly four weeks of floor time left before the August recess.

House members have pressed the Senate to address how federal officials, including the president, profit from digital assets while in office, after financial disclosures were reported to show Trump earned more than US$1 billion (AU$1.44 billion) from crypto-related businesses last year.

Trump has previously rejected concerns over his family’s crypto ventures, saying “there’s nothing illegal, there’s nothing wrong with it” and that he does not discuss the businesses with his children. No wrongdoing has been established, and the negotiations concern ethics provisions in the bill text.

Crypto News Australia reported on the Clarity Act’s political roadblocks and the stablecoin-yield compromise floated to revive the bill in earlier coverage.

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