US Senate votes to halt stablecoin bill as rising tensions surge over Trump's crypto involvement

U.S. senators voted to not move forward for now with a bill on Thursday to regulate stablecoins following escalating tension over the past several days over President Donald Trump's crypto involvement and concerns about about the stablecoin bill specifically.  

The Senate voted via cloture, part of a procedural process, on Thursday. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. voted no, according to the Senate Press Gallery. 

After the vote, Thune said he changed his vote so that the legislation could be brought up again. He also sharply criticized Democrats and said the bill had six versions in response to Democrats. 

"I just have to say, frankly, I just don't get it," Thune said. "I don't know what more they want." 

Tensions have risen among lawmakers as Republicans lead efforts, alongside some Democrats, to pass bills not only to regulate stablecoins, but also to pass legislation that writes rules for the crypto industry in total. However, Trump's involvement in digital assets through companies, his memecoin and pricey dinners have threatened to upend hopes of bipartisanship. 

Last weekend, Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, Raphael Warnock, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andy Kim, Ben Ray Luján, John Hickenlooper and Adam Schiff said the stablecoin bill has several issues that need to be addressed, including concerns around needing stronger requirements for foreign issuers and anti-money laundering.

On Thursday, Sen. Warner said he could not "in good conscience ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation when the text isn’t yet finished."

"It is my sincere hope that we can start floor consideration next week after we have finalized our work and given our colleagues adequate time to review," Warner said in a statement. 

Hours before Thursday's cloture, the Senate Banking Committee, led by Republicans, released a statement called "Myth vs. Fact: The Genius Act," and in an effort to seemingly debunk some assertions made in by lawmakers. 

The bill had been "the result of months of bipartisan negotiations and extensive consultation with industry participants, academic experts, and government stakeholders," they said. The committee called GENIUS a "consumer protection bill," and says it does not "pave the way" for officials that are elected from profiting from stablecoin issuance. 

"The GENIUS Act makes it clear that ethics laws apply to members of Congress and Senior Executives in the government," they said. "Importantly it clarifies that those ethics laws are applicable to the business of issuing a payment stablecoin."

Stablecoin bills on the move 

The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the GENIUS Act in March, which garnered both some support and disdain from Democratic senators. 

The bill requires stablecoins to have 100% reserve backing with U.S. dollars and other similarly liquid assets, annual audits with more than $50 billion in market capitalization, among other requirements. It also prohibits foreign issuance in the U.S. but allows stablecoins that are foreign-issued to circulate on the secondary market in the U.S. The Senate version also has language on allowing the Treasury to take action against foreign issuers.

On the House side, the House Financial Services Committee voted to advance a somewhat similar bill in April that has anti-money laundering and reserve requirements. However, the two bills differ on how issuers are regulated at the state and federal levels. They also differ in how foreign issuers like Tether will be regulated.

Democrats have also raised concerns over President Trump's involvement in crypto over the past few months. Trump's family has been involved in crypto in a few ways, with Trump and his wife, Melania, launching their own memecoins days ahead of his inauguration and the launch of Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, which recently launched its own stablecoin. Trump also just hosted a crypto dinner on Monday night to raise money for the MAGA Inc. super PAC. According to CNBC, the going rate per plate starts at $1.5 million, making it “among the priciest political fundraisers in recent memory."

During a planned House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee hearing focused on crypto, some Democrats, led by ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., boycotted it, citing Trump's crypto ownership. 

"I object to this joint hearing because of the corruption of the President of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all the agencies," Waters said. "I object."

Up in the air

On Wednesday, senators met behind closed doors to negotiate the bill, according to Politico . Then hours before the vote, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., said she was still waiting to get more information on the bill, according to reporting from Punchbowl News. 

Later, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said there was still not bill text on the GENIUS Act, Punchbowl News reported . 

Executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets Bo Hines said Democrats had to choose between being for or against innovation, in a post on X before noon on Thursday. 

"We have the opportunity to usher in the golden age of digital assets and secure America’s position as the crypto capital of the world," Hines said. "Choose wisely."