Senate leadership plans to tee up a vote on legislation creating a framework for payment stablecoins this week, even as a contingent of crypto-friendly Senate Democrats pull their support for the bill.
Republicans are preparing to bring the GENIUS Act to the floor Thursday, according to a source familiar with planning work.
However, nine Democratic senators who previously supported the bill said in a statement Saturday that they would not be able to vote for the current version.
“We have approached this process constructively and with an open mind, with the understanding that additional improvements to the bill would be made,” the senators said.
“However, the bill as it currently stands still has numerous issues that must be addressed, including adding stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, national security, preserving the safety and soundness of our financial system, and accountability for those who don’t meet the act’s requirements,” they continued.
Among the Democrats voicing concerns are Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Mark Warner (Va.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) and Andy Kim (N.J.), all of whom voted to advance the bill out of the Senate Banking Committee in March.
Gallego, ranking member on the panel’s Digital Assets Subcommittee, argued Sunday that this wasn’t “some reversal out of nowhere” by Democrats.
“The fact of the matter is, Dems, including me and my team, were trying to negotiate with the Republicans for weeks,” he wrote on the social platform X. “The bill that was introduced for floor consideration back-pedaled on a lot of the progress we made and did not include other improvements we sought.”
“It seems they want us to suck it up and vote for this bill without our input. That’s not what we expected during this negotiation and not how I operate. Our statement makes clear we won’t let them jam us. Looking forward to continuing to get this bill to a better place.”
The pushback emerged after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) launched a process Thursday to fast-track the legislation.
A Democratic aide familiar with talks told The Hill that the move took Democratic lawmakers by surprise, as they had not seen the floor text before it was released.
This sparked a tense debate at a closed-door Democratic meeting Thursday, according to Axios. New crypto ventures by President Trump and his family have also prompted additional concerns.
Trump, who vowed to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” during the election, has raised eyebrows as he and his family simultaneously expand their crypto portfolio.
World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm launched by the president and his sons, announced last week that an Emirati company planned to use the firm’s new stablecoin to conduct a $2 billion transaction with Binance.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, pointed to the deal as she urged lawmakers to vote down the stablecoin bill Sunday.
“The Trump family stablecoin surged to 7th largest in the world because of a shady crypto deal with the United Arab Emirates—a foreign government that will give them a crazy amount of money,” she wrote on X. “The Senate shouldn’t pass a crypto bill this week to facilitate this kind of corruption.”
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, also plans to block a hearing on market structure legislation Tuesday after Republicans declined to include provisions blocking Trump from profiting from the industry.
House Democrats will instead hold their own hearing to investigate Trump’s crypto ties, including World Liberty Financial and his meme coin.
As Democratic support for the stablecoin legislation falters, it threatens to upend a key priority for Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration, who have set their sights on getting stablecoin and market structure bills across the finish line by August.
Al Weaver contributed.
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