Today the Senate Banking Committee held a markup session on the long awaited Clarity Act for market infrastructure for the crypto and DeFi sector. The bill passed with a vote of 15 to 9, with all Republicans voting in favor alongside two Democrats, Senators Gallego and Alsobrooks. Democrat Committee members proposed numerous amendments, all of which were rejected. A handful of changes from Republi...
The narrative of legislative success (the bill passing 15 to 9) is framed alongside explicit, powerful reservations about the legitimacy and scope of the regulation. The dynamic revealed is one of political transactionalism layered over substantive disagreement. The fact that amendments proposed by Democrats were rejected, while negotiated changes (Lummis's) passed, highlights how legislative momentum is steered by transactional alliances rather than unified ideological goals. The explicit conce...