Senate Majority Leader John Thune Prioritizes SAVE America Act, Delays Clarity Act Until After April

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he does not expect the Senate to move forward with the digital asset market structure bill before April, saying the chamber will first prioritise a vote on the SAVE America Act, which would require in-person proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

“US Senator Majority Leader John Thune reportedly said he doesn’t expect the chamber to move forward with legislation to establish a digital asset market structure before April”

Cointelegraph

Thune was quoted via Punchbowl News saying the market structure bill is "a bill that's, I'm hoping, going to come out of the Banking Committee soon, probably not before, I would say, the April time period."

Cointelegraph

This statement contrasts with earlier optimism from other senators about an April timeline.

Thune’s timeline diverges from comments by Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, who in February expressed hope that a market structure bill would pass Congress by April.

The divergence reflects procedural differences: while the Senate Agriculture Committee has already advanced its version of the market-structure legislation, the Senate Banking Committee postponed a January markup needed to reconcile and combine the bills before a floor vote.

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That delay in the Banking Committee is a central reason Thune cited for pushing proceedings past April.

Separately, the Senate voted to add an amendment to the 21st Century Road to Housing Act that would prohibit the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

“US Senator Majority Leader John Thune reportedly said he doesn’t expect the chamber to move forward with legislation to establish a digital asset market structure before April”

Cointelegraph

The amendment, if enacted and signed into law, would ban a Fed CBDC until December 2030.

That move signals legislative caution around central bank digital currencies even as market-structure talks continue to stall.

The market-structure legislation in question, known as the CLARITY Act in the House, would shift some oversight of digital assets to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and is expected to expand the agency’s authority over digital assets.

However, key provisions remain contested in the Senate, with disagreement over elements such as tokenized equities, ethics, and stablecoin yield.

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Those substantive policy fights help explain why senators are debating both timing and content as they weigh how to combine the Agriculture and Banking committee versions.