Senator Cynthia Lummis said political opposition to President Donald Trump helped derail the Clarity Act, urging the crypto industry to “pin it on the Democrats” following the Senate’s failed procedural vote.

Speaking Tuesday at CoinDesk’s Policy & Regulation event in Washington, D.C., Lummis said she was “dismayed, dumbfounded and saddened” that senators were unable to move the crypto market structure bill forward.

Lummis said the legislation had been negotiated on a bipartisan basis, but argued that Democrats ultimately prioritized their opposition to Trump over reaching an agreement on crypto regulation.

“The problem was, as I see it, Democrats hate President [Donald] Trump more than they like good policy,” she said, adding that lawmakers had lost an opportunity to approve major policy legislation before the midterm elections.

The Clarity Act sought to define the respective roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission in regulating crypto markets, including spot markets.

The Senate procedural vote failed after all Democrats and three Republicans voted against it. Senator Thom Tillis, who was the fourth Republican, switched his vote to “no” at the last minute for procedural reasons.

According to Lummis, the bill reflected negotiations between both parties and grew from around 300 pages to more than 600 pages. She said Democratic lawmakers had pushed for additions including bankruptcy protections.

Lummis also criticized post-vote efforts to place responsibility on individual industry participants, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, or on the crypto industry’s negotiating strategy. She also referenced criticism surrounding Trump’s crypto businesses.

Trump disclosed in 2026 that he earned $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures during 2025, his first year as president.

Despite her criticism of Democrats broadly, Lummis singled out Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Kirsten Gillibrand for praise, describing them as “honest brokers” during the negotiations. Gillibrand has partnered with Lummis on crypto legislation for years.

House lawmakers assess the setback

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Congressman Ritchie Torres separately discussed the Senate vote and the future of market structure legislation.

Hill said Clarity remained necessary because it could provide statutory certainty on questions such as the Howey test, fundraising and the treatment of software developers. He urged lawmakers to concentrate on building bipartisan support for a future version instead of focusing on the failed Senate vote.

Torres said Trump’s crypto involvement had made the legislation more politically complicated for Democrats. He argued that bipartisan support might have been easier to achieve without Trump’s role in the sector, while acknowledging that the bill’s failure had multiple causes.

Trump’s personal memecoin was a particular concern, Torres said, because it created a political problem for Democrats weighing the legislation.

Hill agreed that the memecoin “absolutely did poison the well of the debate” for Democrats. At the same time, he noted that the token was already in existence last year, when Congress advanced the GENIUS Act with bipartisan support and the House passed its version of Clarity.

Hill said the political dynamics could shift following the midterm elections. He argued that both parties would need to cooperate if Congress wants to regulate presidential involvement in crypto and establish broader rules for the industry.

Torres said the legislation should center on crypto market regulation, fair and orderly markets and consumer and investor protections. He argued that making Trump the central focus would move the debate away from those policy questions.