A late-stage rewrite of the CLARITY Act is triggering alarm among Republicans and industry officials who say Congress is now moving away from the pro-consumer framework established under the GENIUS Act, one of President Trump’s signature wins from 2025.
When Trump signed GENIUS into law, the White House framed it as a turning point for consumers and U.S. competitiveness, calling it “a historic piece of legislation that will pave the way for the United States to lead the global digital currency revolution” and emphasizing that it would “bring massive investment and innovation to our country.” The law required full reserve backing and clear disclosures while creating a workable regulatory framework intended to scale dollar-backed digital assets.
Many prominent Senate Republicans made the same point. A Senate Banking Committee fact sheet described the bill as a consumer protection bill built around robust reserve requirements and transparency to enhance consumer confidence. The legislation passed with strong bipartisan support, clearing the Senate 68–30 before being signed into law.
But the latest CLARITY draft, according to a source familiar with the text, would significantly restrict stablecoin rewards. A Senate Republican advisor told the Washington Reporter the change “walks back a clear consumer benefit that GENIUS allowed to develop,” adding that lawmakers would “upset the deal we came to on GENIUS in a way that would only take away rewards from consumers at a time when the economy is already shaky. It would be a political nightmare. It undermines Trump’s signature win.”
The source additionally told the Reporter that the new text would increase the compliance burden on innovators and smaller firms, while cementing the status of giants like Coinbase.
President Trump’s lead regulators, Paul Atkins at the SEC, and Michael Selig at the CFTC, have been advancing Trump’s digital asset agenda through rulemaking that industry groups broadly support. A source close to the White House said the CLARITY changes “cut against the implementation strategy and would be a giveaway to regulatory capture that undermines everything President Trump is doing to make America the crypto capital of the world. Trump is going to be livid when he hears that Congress is undermining him.”
The Washington Reporter has extensively covered the GENIUS Act and the importance to the economy and President Trump’s agenda. Reps Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) and Michael Flood (R., Neb.) wrote in the Reporter about how GENIUS is a consequential win for financial freedom, consumers, and President Trump. The emerging changes set up a new flashpoint between lawmakers, regulators, and the White House as CLARITY moves forward. Several Republican offices and industry groups are expected to press for revisions that more closely track the framework established under GENIUS. One industry source told the Washington Reporter, “this could tear apart one of President Trump’s most consequential accomplishments.”
