Scott said Elizabeth Warren's team wants to run crypto out of the country as the CLARITY Act faces a September 15 cloture vote requiring 60 Senate votes to advance.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott took direct aim at Democratic opposition to digital-asset legislation during the SALT Conference in Wyoming on August 18. Scott said Elizabeth Warren's team wants to "run Bitcoin and crypto out of the country," according to his official post on X. He added that Democrats keep moving the goalposts for political points.
The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) represents the most ambitious congressional attempt to resolve the jurisdictional fight between the SEC and CFTC over digital assets. Under the current merged text, most digital commodities would fall under CFTC oversight. The bill sets registration requirements for exchanges, brokers, and dealers, carves out safe harbors for developers, and adds anti-money-laundering and consumer-protection provisions.
The House passed its version in July 2025 by a 294-to-134 vote. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its version 15-9 in May 2026, with two Democrats crossing party lines. A roughly 600-page merged text has been released, though sticking points remain on ethics provisions and rules governing stablecoin yields.
Scott's remarks, amplified August 20 by CoinMarketCap on X, land at a critical procedural moment. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled a cloture vote on the motion to proceed for September 15, 2026. That threshold requires 60 votes to clear.
Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren and aligned Democrats have consistently resisted the current drafts. Their objections cite insufficient investor protections, national-security gaps, and weak ethics restrictions on elected officials, including Trump family crypto holdings. Some moderate Democrats have pushed for more negotiation rather than a rushed vote.
Industry leaders have been watching closely. Ripple and Coinbase CEOs recently highlighted CLARITY Act progress toward a final ethics deal, with Trump hinting at a compromise that could unlock Democratic votes. The White House convened a crypto summit with SEC and CFTC officials earlier this summer in an effort to break the stalemate. The partisan divide has persisted.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently urged Congress to act fast, warning the U.S. is falling behind global competitors on crypto regulation. His call joined a growing number of voices across both parties.
Markets have already priced in doubt. Galaxy Research slashed its CLARITY Act 2026 passage odds to 10%. Analysts have warned that the SEC and CFTC are racing to fill the regulatory void through agency rulemaking, a path reversible by any future administration.
The legislative uncertainty has moved asset prices. Circle stock recently fell on a Morgan Stanley downgrade tied to CLARITY Act uncertainty. Some experts have warned that failure of the bill could let the Trump SEC fast-track crypto rules unilaterally, giving Democrats even less leverage than a negotiated compromise would provide.
The cloture vote is set for September 15.
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