McCormick favors, Fetterman opposes CLARITY Act
Pennsylvania U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick found themselves on opposite ends of a vote on a major cryptocurrency proposal on Tuesday.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, known as the CLARITY Act, did not reach the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed in the Senate following a 49-50 vote.
McCormick, a Republican, voted to advance the proposal, while Fetterman, a Democrat, voted against it.
The proposal establishes a “regulatory framework for digital commodities, defined by the bill as digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value,” according to a summary of the bill.
The New York Times described the proposal as a “high-profile piece of legislation that was shaped by crypto executives” over the past few months, which would have created “business-friendly rules for cryptocurrencies.”
Following the vote, McCormick said he was “deeply disappointed at this outcome,” and pinned the blame on Senate Democrats for the proposal not advancing.
“For more than a year, Republicans and Democrats worked together in good faith to develop a clear, responsible regulatory framework for digital assets,” McCormick said. “The legislation before the Senate today incorporated substantive changes requested by Democrats, real concessions designed to address concerns from both sides of the aisle and build a durable bipartisan framework.”
“The status quo leaves consumers and investors worse off and cedes U.S. financial leadership overseas,” he continued. “At a time when our global competitors are racing ahead, American entrepreneurs, investors, consumers, and financial institutions in Pennsylvania and across the U.S. deserve clear rules of the road that protect consumers while allowing innovation to flourish here at home.”
The issue isn’t going away, McCormick also argues, adding that he’s still committed to getting it done.
“Community banks and entrepreneurs in PA and across America are worse off without CLARITY,” McCormick said. “I’ll continue working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to deliver the certainty America needs to remain the global leader in financial innovation.”
Although McCormick blamed Senate Democrats, three of his GOP colleagues also voted against advancing the legislation.
Fetterman did not issue a statement immediately after the vote, although The New York Times noted that Democrats’ concerns were centered on President Donald Trump, who “generated $1.4 billion from a network of crypto businesses last year,” which resulted in Democrats wanting “stronger language to prevent the president and other public officials from using crypto to make money.”
Fetterman’s opposition was noteworthy, according to Crypto Citizens Network, given that Pennsylvania’s senior senator was one of several of his Democrats who previously backed The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act. That proposal establishes a “regulatory framework for payment stablecoins (digital assets which an issuer must redeem for a fixed value).”
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, the bill also received opposition from New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who led a bipartisan coalition that argued the proposal would limit states’ ability to oversee the securities and commodities market.
Former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, was advocating for the CLARITY Act to pass.
“I think there are legitimate questions that need to be addressed about the president and his family’s involvement in this, but this should not prevent the United States from having a sensible set of guardrails on crypto,” Toomey said during an interview with CNN last month. “Right now, there’s no regulation, there’s no law, there’s no certainty, and a really important technology, the blockchain technology that is a very, very powerful technology for consumers: it’s going to languish in the absence of well-defined regulations.”
“If Congress wants to separately make decisions about what presidents and presidents’ families and cabinet members can and cannot invest in, that’s a fair conversation,” he added. “It’s a lengthy one. It probably should be done separately.”
The CLARITY Act passed the U.S. House last year, with support from 11 Pennsylvania lawmakers, while 5 voted against it.
As a result of the bill failing to advance in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Politico reports that it likely kills any effort to pass the legislation before the midterm elections.
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