The White House has raised pressure on Democrats ahead of a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate on the Clarity bill.

Blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate reported on Aug. 9 local time that the White House said negotiations on a crypto market-structure bill had progressed enough that if no conclusion is reached by Sept. 15, it would be difficult to make further progress.

Patrick Witt (패트릭 위트), executive director of the president's digital assets advisory council, criticized Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and some Democratic senators on Aug. 8 for trying to block a procedural vote before the August recess and asking for more time to negotiate. "Congress has dealt with crypto market-structure legislation for years, and the Senate has negotiated the Clarity bill since last summer," he said. "If we cannot reach agreement by Sept. 15, we won't be able to going forward," he said.

The vote does not directly decide whether the bill passes. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has moved to end debate on a motion to proceed to House bill H.R. 3633, setting up a vote on Sept. 15. In that vote, the Senate will decide whether to end debate and move into formal consideration of the bill. Sixty votes are needed to clear the procedural hurdle.

The key point is that Republicans alone do not have enough votes. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that all 53 Republican senators are expected to back ending debate, and that at least seven Democrats must vote yes for the bill to advance to the next stage. He also dismissed calls for more time for negotiations. Moreno said an agreement was already reached weeks ago and there was nothing left to resolve.

Those remarks are changing the nature of the Sept. 15 vote. The issue has become how much Democrats will join a plan Republicans say is already finished, rather than whether another compromise can be produced. Moreno stressed that talks conducted over 11 months by Senate Republicans and Democrats have officially ended and that those involved in the agreement should keep their promises.

The Clarity bill passed the Senate Banking Committee in May by 15 to 9, with 2 Democratic members joining Republicans. Additional negotiations continued afterward over limits on conflicts of interest in crypto holdings by elected officials and whether to allow rewards on stablecoin deposits.

Democrats have sought stronger conflict-of-interest safeguards for government officials linked to digital asset businesses. The issue has drawn comments that it became more sensitive because of crypto businesses involving President Donald Trump's family. The banking industry and the crypto industry have also clashed over whether platforms should be allowed to pay rewards on stablecoin balances. Moreno, however, says those issues have all been settled.

That makes the focus of the Sept. 15 vote simple. If Republicans hold together as expected, the question is whether they can secure 7 votes or more from Democrats. Even if the cloture vote fails, the Clarity bill is not formally discarded. But skepticism could grow over whether a bipartisan majority can be assembled to pass a crypto market-structure bill within this year.