CLARITY Act is finally headed for a 60-vote Senate showdown in September

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has formally started the process to force a vote on whether the Senate will take up the CLARITY Act, giving the stalled crypto market-structure bill an immediate path to the floor when lawmakers return in September.Thune filed cloture early Saturday on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, shortly before the Senate adjourned for its summer recess. The chamber is scheduled to reconvene Sept. 14.The procedural move does not guarantee the legislation will pass, or even that the Senate will agree to debate it. But it represents the furthest the legislation has advanced on the Senate floor and turns September into the first direct test of whether supporters have assembled a viable bipartisan coalition.Under Senate rules, a cloture motion generally ripens after two session days. Invoking cloture on legislation requires three-fifths of the Senate, normally 60 votes, meaning Republicans will need Democratic support to move forward.Sen. Cynthia Lummis, one of Congress' leading advocates for the legislation, described Thune's move as “clearing the way for CLARITY.”September now begins with a vote instead of another deadlin...