Longest House vote in history opens contentious Crypto Week on Capitol Hill — what’s next?

Why did a routine house vote on crypto bills stretch over nine hours, and what does it reveal about internal Republican politics?

House sets record in crypto showdown

On Jul. 16, the U.S. House of Representatives recorded the longest vote in its modern history. 

A procedural step that typically takes less than an hour remained open for more than nine, not due to Democratic opposition, but because of internal disagreement within the Republican Party.

The vote was meant to initiate debate on three proposed crypto-related bills. A group of Republican lawmakers declined to support the motion, triggering a standoff that brought proceedings to a standstill.

The motion, known as a rule vote, sets the terms for legislative debate. These are usually resolved along party lines with little delay. In this case, conservative Republicans withheld support over concerns about how the bills addressed central bank digital currencies.

With Democrats uniformly opposed and several Republicans holding out, the vote remained unresolved for most of the day. 

House leaders kept the tally open in hopes of persuading dissenting members to shift their stance, a move rarely used and almost never extended for such a long period.

Two days of gridlock and a brokered deal

Most of the opposing lawmakers were members of the Freedom Caucus and believed the existing language in the stablecoin bill failed to clearly restrict the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar in the future.

The GENIUS Act included a clause stating that it should not be interpreted as expanding the Fed’s authority to serve individuals directly. For the holdouts, this was too vague. 

Representative Keith Self of Texas referred to it as a potential back door and pushed for a clear legislative ban on any form of CBDC.

Given the GOP’s narrow majority, the defection of a small group was enough to block the rule from passing. With all Democrats voting against it, House leadership faced a prolonged deadlock. 

Democratic members had already criticized the broader crypto package over issues such as consumer protection and possible conflicts of interest tied to President Trump’s digital asset holdings, but they did not take part in the internal Republican dispute.

On the evening of Jul. 15, President Trump met with several of the dissenting members and proposed a compromise. Instead of changing the GENIUS Act, he suggested adding anti-CBDC language to the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. 

The approach gained traction with some of the holdouts, who publicly indicated that they were now willing to support the procedural motion.

When the House returned the next day, new concerns emerged. Lawmakers who had worked on the CLARITY Act questioned whether attaching a CBDC ban to a market structure bill would weaken its chances in the Senate or disrupt the coalition that helped it move forward in June.

To address the concerns, House leadership put forward a new plan. Rather than amending any of the crypto bills, they proposed advancing the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act as part of the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act. 

The measure is considered essential and often serves as a vehicle for policy items that may not pass independently.

The revised proposal helped shift remaining votes. By late evening, all but one Republican member reversed their position, and the rule passed with a 217–212 vote. The session concluded just before midnight, setting a new record for the longest vote in House history. 

Speaker Mike Johnson described the process as challenging but necessary and marked it as the beginning of what party leaders referred to as Crypto Week.

The three pillars of the U.S. crypto regulation

Each crypto-related bill addresses a different part of the digital asset space.

The first bill, called the GENIUS Act, focuses on stablecoins. These are digital tokens that aim to stay equal in value to assets like the U.S. dollar. 

The bill sets national standards for stablecoin issuers, requiring full reserves, clear redemption rights for users, and basic safeguards like anti-money-laundering checks. It also gives stablecoin holders priority in the event of a bankruptcy. 

Supporters say the bill would create a safer and more predictable stablecoin market, while critics argue that it gives too much room to private firms without strong enough guardrails. 

Even so, the GENIUS Act cleared the Senate on Jun. 18 with a bipartisan 68 to 30 vote and is expected to reach the president’s desk soon.

The second bill, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, tries to settle a long-running debate over which federal agencies should regulate different kinds of crypto assets. 

Under the bill, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would oversee most decentralized tokens and their platforms, while the Securities and Exchange Commission would remain in charge of assets sold as investment contracts. 

It also outlines how a blockchain network can be certified as decentralized, which would move its tokens out of the SEC’s jurisdiction. 

Lawmakers backing the bill see it as a way to replace legal uncertainty with clear roles and processes. 

The House advanced the bill with bipartisan support in June, but the Senate has signaled that it may introduce its own version, which could lead to changes or a future compromise.

The third and most politically divisive measure is the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, introduced by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. The bill seeks to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC or digital dollar directly to the public. 

Supporters, mostly from the conservative wing of the GOP, argue that a government-issued digital currency could infringe on financial privacy and evolve into a surveillance tool similar to systems used in China. 

While the Federal Reserve has only studied the concept and made no move to implement a CBDC, proponents of the bill argue that a preemptive legislative ban is necessary. 

However, the bill lacks bipartisan traction and has little chance of passing the Senate, which is one reason House leaders later floated the idea of attaching its provisions to the upcoming defense spending bill.

What’s next?

Following the rule vote, House Republicans proceeded with what they referred to as Crypto Week. 

The first bill up for consideration is the GENIUS Act. A House vote is scheduled for Jul. 17, and leadership signaled that President Trump has been prepared to sign it within days. 

If enacted, the GENIUS Act would become the first comprehensive federal legislation on stablecoins, setting a precedent for how digital dollars and other asset-backed tokens are treated in the U.S.

The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is expected to follow, but its path remains more complex. Lawmakers on both sides have indicated that creating clear lines between the SEC and CFTC remains a shared goal, but there is no agreement yet on how to get there.

The current momentum in the House cites a change in how Congress is treating crypto policy. Legislative progress that had stalled in previous sessions is now being taken up with more urgency, and the issue has moved higher on the national agenda. 

President Trump’s direct involvement and vocal support for digital asset policy have also created new political incentives. At the same time, the debates over the past week have revealed that internal divisions within the Republican Party are likely to shape future stages of the process.