The Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, blocked the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act at the first procedural hurdle, voting 49-50 on a motion to proceed — well short of the 60 votes needed to advance, The Hill, CoinDesk, and Fox News reported.

All Democrats opposed the motion. Four Republicans joined them: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), and Thom Tillis (N.C.), The Hill reported. The package would have split SEC and CFTC oversight of digital assets, set registration and AML rules, and handed the CFTC new authority over crypto spot markets — the industry’s top market-structure priority after the 2025 GENIUS Act on stablecoins.

Lummis: “I think we’re done. It’s over.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), the bill’s primary architect, told Fox News after the vote: “I think we’re done. It’s over.” Asked whether the bill would return to the floor, she said, “Nope.” She argued negotiators had already granted Democrats “over 120 of their requests.” In a separate statement to The Hill, Lummis said Democrats “played games,” presenting demands and moving the goal posts after Republicans met them, and that the vote “proved they were never truly serious about protecting consumers and preserving American leadership.”

Ethics fight over Trump family crypto

Negotiations collapsed over ethics language aimed at senior officials’ crypto business ties amid scrutiny of President Donald Trump and his family’s holdings. Republicans’ Sunday “last, best and final” White House-approved ethics text barred public officials, including the president, from issuing or sponsoring crypto assets and — after Democratic pushback — added state attorneys general enforcement alongside DOJ, The Hill reported. Democrats still called the language full of loopholes; Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said Monday there were “a whole lot of loopholes,” and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) accused GOP leadership of ending talks and forcing a vote “just as Democrats and Republicans were making progress,” saying the bill failed because Republicans “refuse to say no to the president.”

With November midterms weeks away and the Senate calendar thin, CoinDesk and Fox framed the loss as a major industry setback that may not return this Congress — shifting pressure back onto SEC and CFTC rulemaking without a durable statute. Congress already cleared stablecoin law in 2025; market structure remains stuck in the ethics/regulatory turf fight.

Sources