President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that he reached a deal with Republican lawmakers to move a cryptocurrency bill forward in the House.
Earlier that day, a dozen Republicans, among them House Freedom Caucus members and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), derailed a procedural vote advancing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act over concerns it lacked a provision or amendment that would block the creation of a central bank digital currency, or a CBDC.
Trump, a strong crypto advocate, held a meeting with most of the GOP holdouts at the White House following the vote. In an update to Truth Social after the huddle, the president said 11 of the Republicans had agreed to switch their votes and support the GENIUS Act.
“I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I want to thank the Congressmen/women for their quick and positive response,” he added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
If the agreement holds, the House will be able to move forward with adopting a procedural rule as soon as Wednesday and consider the GENIUS Act, along with two other cryptocurrency bills, the CLARITY Act and the Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency Surveillance State Act. The negotiations on crypto legislation come during what House Republicans are calling “crypto week.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) praised Trump for intervening in remarks Tuesday that signaled he would push to vote on the legislation on Wednesday.
“I’m thankful for President Trump getting involved tonight to ensure that we can pass the GENIUS Act tomorrow and agreeing again to help us advance additional crypto legislation in the coming days. Much more to come,” he said.
The Senate passed the GENIUS Act in June. The legislation seeks to establish a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens known as stablecoins.
However, the legislation faced pushback in the House from Republicans like Greene, concerned that it lacked an amendment prohibiting the creation of a central bank digital currency.
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“I just voted NO on the Rule for the GENIUS Act because it does not include a ban on Central Bank Digital Currency and because Speaker Johnson did not allow us to submit amendments to the GENIUS Act,” Greene wrote on X after derailing the procedural vote this week.
“President Trump included a ban on CBDC in his January 23rd executive order, and Congress must also include the ban on CBDC in the GENIUS Act,” she continued.
