Legislation to create a framework for payment stablecoins failed to clear a key hurdle on the Senate floor Thursday, after several Democrats voted against moving forward with consideration of the bill.
Senators voted 48-49 to end debate on a motion to proceed on the GENIUS Act, short of the 60 votes required to move the measure further along the road to final passage.
Senate Democrats who previously supported the GENIUS Act withdrew support for the bill over the weekend, after Republican leadership sought to fast-track a vote on the legislation.
The senators accused Republicans of cutting off negotiations early, arguing that the latest version of the bill lacked strong enough provisions on anti-money laundering, national security and other issues.
The two sides have been engaged in negotiations for several days, with some reports of a deal. However, Senate Democrats said Thursday morning that they had still not seen new bill text.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Digital Asset Subcommittee, asked for unanimous consent to delay the vote until Monday to give lawmakers more time.
“We’ve made some great progress over this past week,” Gallego said on the Senate floor ahead of Thursday’s vote. “I greatly, greatly appreciate the work that we’ve done in a bipartisan manner.”
“The reason you’re hearing some hesitancy, the legislation of this scope and importance really just cannot be rushed, and we need time both to educate our colleagues and people,” he added. “We’re not shutting down. We don’t want to shut this down to the point where we’re ending all this work that we have put into it.”
“We want to bring this economy and this innovation to the United States, and I’m asking for that time,” he continued. “I want to be clear that you do have enough members across the aisle that want to see this pass in a good manner.”
His request was ultimately rejected, and the Senate proceeded with the vote.
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