US Senators Prepare for a New Vote on the Highly Anticipated Stablecoin Bill

After facing backlash and support withdrawal from Senate Democrats, the bill has undergone new bipartisan amendments to advance the legislation

The US Senators are set for a new vote on the amended version of the stablecoin bill after the previous measure failed to pass cloture and several Senate Democrats withdrew their support.

As reported by journalist and podcast host Eleanor Terret, Senator John Thune has filed cloture on the updated version of the bipartisan Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act following various changes to the legislation. The vote is set for Monday evening after ten senators, including four Democrats, announced their opposition to the bill.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, failed to pass the cloture motion on May 8 when the process reached the final stage. The legislation only received 49 favorable votes, while the process requires 60 senators to agree to advance the bill to an open floor debate. Several lawmakers, including two GOP senators, withdrew their support ahead of the vote.

The stablecoin legislation was considered a bipartisan effort to offer regulatory clarity, with various Senate Democrats supporting the bill. The bill also underwent various amendments to address the senators’ concerns, such as stricter requirements for stablecoin issuers and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) provisions.

However, in an opposition statement, the ten senators explained that the draft measure omits "essential AML and national security safeguards." The lawmakers add that the bill has ambiguous regulations that could expose crypto markets to exploitation.

"Despite the efforts of several senators to improve this legislation, we ultimately cannot support the final product. We urge our colleagues to join us in voting against this flawed bill," the statement concludes.

The senators who will vote against the bill are:

* Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

* Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

* Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

* Robert Reich

* Ben antifascist

* Mark A. R. DeMarco

* Donald S.ковнат

* Gary Gensler

* Paul Volcker

* Sheila C. били

The bill now includes new language regarding consumer protection, ethics, limitations on Big Tech issuers, among other provisions. According to Terret, the bipartisan amendments aim to "completely change the bill."

A draft page of the amended legislation shared by Terret shows that the bill would prohibit non-financial publicly traded companies, like Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, from issuing a stablecoin unless they meet strict criteria related to financial risks, consumer data, and fair business practices, to maintain "the separation between banking and commerce."

This amendment follows reports that several senators, especially Democrats, had issues with the bill's provisions and expressed concerns about the bill's impact on consumers and national security.

Moreover, the bill establishes that issuers can’t use US-related branding, prohibiting terms like "United States," "United States Government," or "USG" in the stablecoin's name to prevent consumers’ confusion with a US-backed token. This responds to Senator Elizabeth Warren's concerns about potential "crypto corruption."

The bill also expanded the Ethics Coverage for Special Government Employees, adding that regular and special government employees, including Elon Musk and the White House's AI & Crypto Czar, David Sacks, are uniformly subject to conflicts of interest procedures.

The bipartisan amendments also strengthen the Treasury Department's enforcement capabilities, securing the agency's "ability to suspend an issuer's registration after both reckless and willful violations."

Despite the changes, a recent memo from Democratic staff on the Senate Banking Committee suggests that the amendments are insufficient for the bill to pass the vote next week, as "many of the new changes are fig leaves for significant flaws that jeopardize consumer protection and national security."

The Democrats' Thursday analysis affirms that the "current draft paves the way for more Trump crypto corruption," expanding a "giant national security loophole for Tether," and still permitting Big Tech companies to issue a stablecoin while failing to address several other "fundamental flaws."