White House Pushes July 4 Passage of Clarity Act

The White House outlined a rapid timetable for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act after Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks reached a compromise on stablecoin-yield rules, an administration adviser said. The administration wants Senate Banking Committee markup this month, a Senate floor vote in June and House passage before Independence Day.

Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, spoke about the schedule at Consensus Miami. He called July 4 “a tremendous birthday present for America, celebrating our 250th,” and acknowledged the calendar is tight but achievable: “There’s not a lot of slack left in the rope right now. But it is an achievable timeline.”

The Tillis-Alsobrooks language focuses on rewards crypto firms offer on stablecoin holdings. The compromise prohibits yields that would resemble bank deposits while allowing activity-based rewards tied to card spending or other transactional behavior. Witt summarized industry response by saying, “Crypto is unhappy, banks are unhappy, but they’re both about equally unhappy. And so we know that we got the right compromise.”

Industry and lawmakers reacted unequally to the timeline. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, expressed confidence the Clarity Act would pass this summer and urged banking groups not to block progress. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott described the bill as in the “red zone.” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand offered a more cautious view, suggesting completion could slip to the first week of August “if we’re lucky.” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse warned that a delay in committee markup would sharply reduce the chance of passage as midterm politics intensify. Several major banks have remained publicly quiet about the compromise.

The Clarity Act aims to create a federal framework for digital assets and stablecoins and to clarify which activities fall under Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and which fall to other regulators. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value by pegging to a fiat currency or asset. The debate over yields has centered on whether certain crypto reward programs should be regulated like bank deposits.

If the committee markup proceeds as scheduled, the next four to eight weeks will determine whether the bill clears the Senate and reaches the House in time for the July 4 target. Lawmakers and industry groups will monitor whether the negotiated stablecoin provisions survive final votes.