CLARITY Act Seen Missing Midterm Deadline After House GOP Scraps Eight September Voting Days

House Republican leaders have canceled eight House voting days in September, sharply narrowing the runway for the CLARITY Act and making passage before the midterm elections highly unlikely. Under the revised schedule, lawmakers return to Washington on September 14 for four days of votes, then depart until the post-election session begins in November. That compressed calendar is now the central hurdle, because even if the Senate advances its version, the bill cannot be sent to President Donald Trump without final House approval. The CLARITY Act would split digital-asset oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It also includes restrictions barring government officials and their spouses from holding or promoting cryptocurrencies while in public office. In the Senate, lawmakers are expected to take up a cloture motion on September 15. Reaching cloture would require 60 votes to open debate, but would not by itself complete passage or deliver the legislation to the president. The House passed its version in July 2025 by a bipartisan 294-134 vote. Senate committees, though, have drafted separate language that would need to be reconciled before a final measure could clear Congress. Political divisions have already surfaced, including a narrow 12-11 party-line vote in the Senate Agriculture Committee to advance its proposal. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a recent Fox News interview that the bill represents the most significant step toward positioning the U.S. as the "crypto capital of the world," and urged Congress to move the legislation to the president's desk. Any Senate amendments would require the House to vote again, and with the House absent for most of the remaining pre-midterm period, Senate action in September would likely leave the bill waiting until November. The cancelled sessions shift the approval window into the post-election agenda, when congressional priorities could change.