House GOP clears procedural hurdle for crypto bills, unfreezing floor
The chamber adopted a rule — which governs debate on legislation — in a 217-212 vote, after most of the GOP lawmakers who opposed the procedural effort on Tuesday flipped their position. The vote remained open for well over eight hours — making history as the longest vote in the House — as lawmakers engaged in negotiations behind the scenes.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was the only GOP 'no' vote.
GOP leadership was able to secure the holdouts' support for the motion after two days of talks by agreeing to add a crypto provision to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), must-pass legislation that would put it on a path to landing on President Trump's desk — assuming it doesn't get stripped out of a final bill, which is often rewritten by both chamber's leaders.
'We had a very productive meeting tonight, I mean, everybody was there in good faith, they all have the same priorities, and I'm pleased that we'll be able to get this done, the president is as well,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters. 'I just spoke with him and obviously this is a big priority for him and it was for us.'
'And so this breaks the logjam, allows us to get our work done,' he added. 'And sometimes it takes longer than at other times, but it's all part of the process and you all know this works: We build consensus and we got it done tonight, so I'm very pleased.'
The vote brings to a close several days of disarray over the procedural hurdle, which stood in the way of the chamber's ability to debate and vote on the raft of crypto legislation. With the rule adopted, the House can now debate and hold final passage votes on three cryptocurrency bills and a measure to fund the Pentagon for fiscal year 2025.
The drawn-out negotiations began after 12 hardline Republicans voted against the rule on Tuesday, blocking the House from moving forward with consideration of the bills and leaving the floor at a standstill.
President Trump appeared to avert the crisis late Tuesday, striking a deal with most of the hardline group to vote in favor of the rule the next day in exchange for combining two of the crypto bills together.
However, it quickly became apparent Wednesday that it would not be smooth sailing.
Three GOP lawmakers — Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Keith Self (Texas) and Greene — initially voted 'no' on a procedural step to reconsider the rule before switching to 'yes' at the last minute to allow the motion to pass.
When the final rule came up for a vote, Roy and Greene again voted 'no,' alongside Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
Huizenga's opposition underscored a key point of tension from the deal the president had reached with the hardline contingent.
Trump had agreed to add provisions blocking the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) — like those in the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, one of the three crypto bills on the floor — to a second bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act aims to provide the crypto industry with clear rules by drawing a bright line between oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Trump's deal sought to alleviate the hardliners' chief concern, which was that the crypto bills laid the framework for a CBDC.
While the House is set to consider the anti-CBDC measure, it appears unlikely to garner enough support to clear the Senate. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act also faces an uncertain future, but the addition of the anti-CBDC provisions appeared to allay their concerns.
However, it seems to have raised concerns among other GOP lawmakers, including members of the House Financial Services Committee.
As the hours ticked on and Johnson attempted to salvage the vote, more members of the original hardline group changed their votes to 'no,' while Huizenga switched his vote to 'yes.'
After GOP leadership agreed to add the anti-CBDC provision to the NDAA, the holdouts changed their votes back to 'yes,' allowing the rule to pass.
The procedural vote brings the GENIUS Act, a bill setting up a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens called stablecoins, one step closer to reality. If it clears the House, the bill heads to Trump's desk, where the president has indicated he is eager to sign the measure into law.
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