U.S. Congressman French Hill said bipartisan support remains central to moving the Clarity Act, a long-awaited crypto market structure bill, across the finish line before the midterm elections.
Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, Hill said Democrats and Republicans have narrowed their differences in drafting the bill. Pro-crypto lawmakers had hoped the measure would pass before Congress left for its August recess, but after a delay, a vote is now set for September 15.
In a video posted by Financial Services GOP on September 3, 2026, Hill said: "we passed the CLARITY Act in the House last summer with 78 Democratic votes. It is time for the Senate to join us and pass the CLARITY Act. Members on both sides of the aisle in the Senate have…"
Hill also framed the issue as a test of whether Democrats and Republicans can work together to make sure the United States leads the world in distributed ledger technology and financial services.
He said the one major issue still left to resolve is the ethics provision. In his view, the best answer is to pass the legislation, because everyone, "no matter what family they belong to, the Trumps or not," would then fall under a regulatory framework fully scrutinized by U.S. government regulators across commodities, securities, and banking.
What the bill would do
The Clarity Act was first introduced last year by Hill, who serves as House Financial Services Chairman. Crypto companies have long pushed for clearer rules, and the bill is designed to formally split oversight among regulators by distinguishing which digital assets count as securities, commodities, or stablecoins.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill last July. It has stalled this year, largely because the banking lobby and crypto companies clashed over whether customers should be paid yield on stablecoins.
A new draft addressing ethics began circulating in July. That version would ban government officials from promoting crypto or making money from it, an issue Democrats have criticized the Trump family over.
Political friction around the measure
A group of Democrats said the bill still fell short and sought amendments. Some Democrats were also accused by Republicans, including Cynthia Lummis, of deliberately slowing the legislation.
Still, the bill has drawn praise for the bipartisan work already put into it. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, was among those backing that effort. In July, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said that while some Democratic lawmakers were holding back the long-awaited legislation, younger Democrats wanted to pass it.
President Donald Trump said in August that if the United States wants to remain the undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto, lawmakers need to pass what he called a "very, very powerful" piece of legislation.
The report was first published by Bitcoin Magazine and written by Mathew Di Salvo.