Congress
Thune open to changing Senate crypto bill to win over Dems
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he is open to amending landmark cryptocurrency legislation that GOP leaders hope to pass in the coming weeks on the floor, as Republicans scramble to negotiate changes that would win over enough Democrats to advance the bill.
“Changes can be made on the floor for sure,” Thune told reporters Monday. He added that he is “waiting to see what it is [Democrats] are asking for.”
His comments come as key Democrats are negotiating to get changes to the crypto legislation, which would create the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for digital tokens known as stablecoins that are pegged to the value of the dollar.
“Democrats and Republicans are talking to each other right now,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who privately urged members last week not to commit to supporting the stablecoin legislation in order to extract additional concessions from Republicans.
Concerns from Democrats may not be the only vote-counting hurdle Republicans face in the coming days. Sen. Rand Paul said in an interview Monday he is undecided on the legislation, which could add a new headache for Republican leaders who need 60 votes to pass the bill.
“Businesses come to Washington and they say, ‘Please regulate us.’ And usually I say, ‘Well, you’ll be sorry,’” Paul said.
The Kentucky Republican added that he is “all for stablecoin,” which he said could someday compete with the payment giants Mastercard and Visa, but added: “If you place all kinds of limits on it — I don’t know enough to know whether this might harm them in their competitive ability to actually overtake Mastercard and Visa.”
Paul added that he wonders “if this is some kind of thing to build up purchase of Treasuries,” which stablecoin issuers would be allowed to hold as reserves backing their dollar-pegged tokens.
The stablecoin bill hit a surprise roadblock over the weekend when a group of nine Senate Democrats who were previously open to backing the legislation said they wouldn’t support revisions that Republicans unveiled last week.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who voted for a previous version of the stablecoin bill when it cleared the Senate Banking Committee in March, said negotiations are ongoing and he hopes to come to a deal with Republicans ahead of a procedural vote that GOP leaders are eyeing to hold on Thursday.
“I’m hoping we could get it done by then,” he told reporters. “If we can’t then, yeah, then push back. But there’s no reason why we can’t.”
His comments are a sign that pro-crypto Democrats remain open to supporting the stablecoin legislation on the floor, despite concerns from other members of the caucus about advancing the measure as the Trump family pursues digital assets business ventures. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who also voted for a previous version of the bill in the Senate Banking Committee, said there are “real-time meetings going on right now.”
“I think we need a regulated stablecoin regime, but we’ve got legitimate national security issues,” he said.
President Donald Trump said voters may seek to punish Republicans — but not him — in the November midterm elections, as GOP lawmakers sweat that affordability concerns and the war in Iran could mean Democrats flip the House and perhaps even the Senate.
“They’re angry at Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that aired Friday. “But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”
The GOP faces the prospect of heavy losses this November, as gas and grocery prices remain stubbornly high due in part to the White House’s five-month-long war in Iran. The administration’s guidance on campaign trail messaging has been “tone deaf,” House Republicans fear.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has tumbled since he returned to the Oval Office last year, and even his biggest supporters have grown frustrated over his Middle East war.
And with a messy, jam-packed slate of primaries now all but in the rearview mirror, Democrats are determined to go on offense. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 58 seats on its midterm target map that stretches into redder territory — while still facing an uphill climb to take the Senate.
Trump has a massive war chest at his disposal. His MAGA Inc. super PAC reached $400 million in June. The president told Punchbowl he plans to use it to “help Republicans,” but he stressed that he faces no pressure in this campaign cycle.
“I said to somebody, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t understand, I won,’” Trump said, referencing his 2024 presidential election victory. “I’m not campaigning.”
The biggest issue for Republicans this year? That Trump himself is not on the ballot, he said.
“If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell, I’m going to ask them to,” he said.
The Senate’s plan to get out of town is coming together.
Majority Leader John Thune teed up a final vote on the Russia sanctions legislation for this morning, as well as a confirmation vote for dozens of nominees and a procedural step on a stopgap funding bill.
But there’s still a number of questions that need to be answered if Thune wants to adjourn for recess by the end of the day:
— BLANCHE’S FATE: President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general needs to secure at least one more vote to be confirmed before the break.
It looks like it’s all up to Sen. Bill Cassidy after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday morning she is opposed. Thune indicated Thursday night Blanche’s fate was uncertain and that leaders were “still working to get the final vote.”
— SAVE AMERICA ACT: Thune said to expect a vote related to the SAVE America Act as well as an initial vote on a budget blueprint for a third party-line spending bill — which includes elements of Trump’s election security legislation.
The decision to hold the budget vote comes after two Republican senators, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Blue Light News Thursday they believed Sen. Mike Lee or another member of the GOP’s right flank would have otherwise forced a vote on the framework.
But as we’ve previously reported, Republicans don’t believe the budget resolution has the votes within the conference to be adopted — meaning the expected initial vote today will fail to clear a simple majority threshold.
And it’s not clear Lee or like-minded senators will be satisfied and allow for lawmakers to adjourn for recess without more action on the elections measure. The senator has made similar threats over the past year but has never followed through.
— TIME AGREEMENT: GOP leaders need to strike an agreement to finish other business, including passing the stopgap government funding bill and advancing a college sports bill.
At this point, any single senator could still object to expediting the chamber’s agenda, which would derail Thune’s goal of getting members out of town by the end of the day.
“We’ve been having these conversations with Democrats trying to figure out what’s the path,” Thune said.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP EXPECTS CRYPTO BILL DELAY: The Senate will leave for the chamber’s August recess without holding a vote on a landmark cryptocurrency bill, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Thune may still file cloture on the bill, but it likely won’t come to the floor until lawmakers return to Washington next month, two of the people said.
— COLLEGE SPORTS BILL STUMBLES: Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell’s legislation to impose new guardrails on college sports is looking increasingly unlikely to hit the floor this week. Eleven senators objected to expedited consideration of the Protect College Sports Act after Thune filed cloture earlier this week, two people familiar with discussions told Blue Light News.
— OGLES OUSTED: GOP House leaders lost an incumbent — and a perennial headache — with Rep. Andy Ogles’ primary defeat in Tennessee Thursday night. His loss to former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher represents the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week.
Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Andrew Howard and Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination is on the brink after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday that she would oppose confirming him.
The Alaska Republican said in a statement that she did not believe Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general since April, would act to rein in President Donald Trump and reverse the “politicization—even weaponization” of the Justice Department that has “accelerated” under Trump.
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Blanche’s fate is now thought to come down to Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who has been increasingly critical of the president since losing his renomination campaign to a Trump-backed Republican earlier this year.
Cassidy met with Blanche alongside Murkowski Wednesday afternoon but hasn’t yet said how he will vote. Blanche has to win his support in order to be confirmed, given unified opposition from Democrats and opposition from Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The extended absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for health reasons has also left Republicans short of a vote.
Murkowski cited Blanche’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the settlement agreement reached between Trump and the IRS under his watch as well as DOJ’s “repeated targeting” of Trump’s political enemies.
Senate Republicans rejecting Blanche would be a significant blow to Trump, who has pressured GOP senators to support Blanche over the past week as his nomination has been in limbo. And it would come as he’s already fuming at the conference, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, over their inability to end the legislative filibuster and pass the elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.
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