Congress
Senate advances landmark crypto bill with Democrats divided
The Senate voted Monday to advance landmark cryptocurrency legislation, with 16 Democrats siding with most Republicans on a key procedural motion that could set the stage for the upper chamber to pass its first-ever crypto regulatory overhaul.
The Senate voted 66-32 to proceed on the bill following a series of bipartisan negotiations in which Republicans agreed to an array of changes to win over enough Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold required to advance the measure.
The vote is a major win for the crypto industry, which has lobbied Congress for years to pass legislation that would help legitimize digital assets. The bill, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), would create the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for digital tokens known as stablecoins that are pegged to the value of the dollar.
It comes less than two weeks after Senate Democrats rejected the stablecoin bill on the floor the last time it went up for a procedural vote after a series of last-minute bipartisan talks failed to yield a tangible deal in time and Democrats objected to the language that Republicans had teed up to pass. Negotiators returned to the table this week and agreed to a tentative new draft bill that was circulated over the weekend and is expected to be adopted as an amendment ahead of a vote on final passage.
The procedural motion drew support from 16 Democrats: Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Warner of Virginia, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Adam Schiff of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Alex Padilla of California, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.
Two Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Jerry Moran of Kansas — voted against the motion.
“This cloture vote represents a major milestone in our bipartisan effort to regulate stablecoins,” Gillibrand, the lead Democratic co-sponsor said in a statement. “I’m confident that we have produced a strong regulatory framework that will position our country for the future, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.”
One Democrat who voted for the bill when it cleared the Senate Banking Committee in March, Sen. Andy Kim, voted “no” on Monday. The New Jersey lawmaker was seen on the floor just prior to the stablecoin vote reviewing written materials in a binder with Gillibrand, Hagerty and aides involved in drafting the bill.
Despite the changes won by Democrats in negotiations, the crypto bill is divisive on the left. Most Democrats opposed the legislation, with some citing concerns about the Trump family’s crypto ventures. The party’s leader on the Senate Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren, sought to rally the opposition, saying on the floor ahead of the vote that the bill’s “basic flaws remain unaddressed” by the recent changes. The Massachusetts Democrat was seen having a heated conversation with Gillibrand on the Senate floor during the vote on the stablecoin bill while other senators were surrounding the two.
“A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the President’s corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection is worse than no bill at all,” Warren said in her floor speech.
Other Democrats said the legislation is necessary to provide certainty to stablecoin issuers, despite concerns about the Trump family businesses.
“Many senators, myself included, have very real concerns about the Trump family’s use of crypto technologies to evade oversight, hide shady financial dealings, and personally profit at the expense of everyday Americans,” Warner — who helped lead negotiations for Democrats alongside Gillibrand, Alsobrooks and Gallego — said in a statement prior to the vote. “But we cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay.”
Monday’s vote clears the way for Senate GOP leaders to put the legislation up for final passage, but that vote may not occur until after Congress’ Memorial Day recess. Beyond that, the bill still has a long way to go before it reaches President Donald Trump’s desk. If the Senate passes the legislation, it will go to the GOP-controlled House, where it will need to be reconciled with a separate but similar stablecoin measure that cleared the House Financial Services Committee last month.
Katherine Hapgood and Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.
The chair of the House Agriculture Committee said he’s not willing to “accept bad results” as a tradeoff for the benefits of advancements in artificial intelligence — a direct rebuttal to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
“As someone who practiced health care for 28 years, I’m never willing to accept bad results. I think we just need to do our best,” Rep. G.T. Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, told reporters Monday.
He was responding to Altman’s comments to Decoded by Blue Light News that people “should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.”
Pressed further on whether he agreed with Altman’s premise, Thompson replied, “No, I think we have to work harder to prevent any bad things from happening.”
Altman’s comments come in the wake of increased panic over the risks of catastrophic destruction from AI, with many industry leaders and experts arguing that guardrails are needed on the technology to prevent it from spinning out of human control.
Pressure is building on Congress to regulate the rapidly-advancing technology, but lawmakers are divided over whether the AI industry needs federal regulation or if it’s capable of governing itself.
The executives of major AI labs and tech companies gathered at the White House last week to discuss solutions with President Donald Trump, who believes overregulating AI will have national security repercussions. The group ended up signing a “morally binding” AI accord that critics say won’t do enough to prevent a worst-case scenario.
Thompson noted Monday he believes that AI will bring “tremendous solutions,” specifically in regards to finding cures for health issues like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. But he also said AI has to be led with “principle” — comparing it to how he addressed digital assets in a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, which he worked on as chair of the Agriculture Committee.
“The first principle is ‘do no harm.’ So we need to protect consumers, and that means, I think, building some guardrails — some guidelines — to do that,” Thompson said. He added that the second principle is to “foster innovation.”
“I think AI has a lot to do with that,” he added. “I don’t think AI works without RI: Real Intelligence.”
LE SUEUR, Minnesota — Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there is no “consensus” yet on advancing a bill establishing permanent daylight saving time even as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Republicans to pass it.
Thune addressed the matter in a Monday interview after Trump used his Truth Social account multiple times over the weekend to rail against the legislation, known as the Sunshine Protection Act — going so far as to post the personal cell phone number of one of its GOP opponents, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
“The president feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues,” he said. “It’s something we’re having conversations about but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet.”
While Trump singled out Cotton for scrutiny, Thune made clear the opposition to the permanent daylight saving time proposal — which would lead to very late winter sunrises in some parts of the country — ran deeper than one senator.
Cotton has publicly voiced opposition to the proposal for year, citing, among other things, the fact that children in his state would be going to school in the dark for part of the year.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) voiced similar objections Monday to reporters in the Capitol, saying he was mindful of “safety concerns in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus in very early hours.”
Thune, who spoke during a campaign swing in Minnesota with GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya, has himself opposed previous daylight saving bills. He said Monday that “a lot of it depends on where you are in the country” and that “your geography probably has as much to do with your position on that as anything.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has aligned himself closely with Trump, is among the lawmakers who have been pushing to get the bill through the Senate. He recently told POLITICO, “I’m going to make sure it gets passed this year.”
Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
Democrats have pulled back some of their ads in North Carolina’s Senate race, days after the top Senate Republican super PAC paused its future spending in the state.
WinSenate, a group affiliated with the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, has removed roughly $1.1 million in North Carolina ad buys this week, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. The group still has roughly $18.8 million in future reservations through Election Day.
“Senate Majority PAC is committed to seeing this race through to victory, and will continue to make spending decisions based on how to best build a strong Senate majority,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement.
The move, combined with the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund’s decision to pause future spending, are a signal that both parties are shifting resources amid an ever-expanding Senate map. Democrats are increasingly confident in their North Carolina Senate nominee, Roy Cooper, as he continues to hold a sizable lead in public polling over Republican Michael Whatley — but some privately say states like Michigan and New Hampshire need more resources.
Meanwhile, multiple Republican groups, not just SLF, have retreated from the state in recent weeks, effectively deciding that it’s no longer worth the money to boost Whatley’s campaign.
The Koch-aligned Americans for Prosperity Action left North Carolina off its $22 million list of future spending across key Senate contests, and Old North Action removed $6.5 million in ad reservations last month.
The Cooper campaign, however, is still treating the race as competitive, pointing to North Carolina’s closely divided electorate and the fact that President Donald Trump won the state in each of the past three presidential elections.
“North Carolina is a truly 50/50 state and Democrats haven’t won a US Senate race in 18 years. We can’t take anything for granted or our eye off the ball,” said Morgan Jackson, a senior adviser to the Cooper campaign. “DC is broken and we’re going to continue to run this race like we’re ten points down to ensure North Carolinians get the change they desperately need.”
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