'Crypto Week' Back on Track After Lengthy House Do-Over Vote

The U.S. House of Representatives — after a record-breaking nearly 10-hour procedural vote — finally moved to advance to a final poll on key crypto legislation in a procedural move Wednesday.

The House narrowly passed an earlier procedural vote to reopen a motion to debate after that motion failed on Tuesday when the House Freedom Caucus voted against advancing to debate and a final vote. While the rules motion is procedural, a majority of lawmakers need to vote in favor before the House can vote on the actual bills.

Wednesday's vote means that the Clarity Act and GENIUS Act will receive final votes. The first procedural measure passed 217-215, suggesting to industry observers that the bills may pass smoothly, but the second vote — which began at 1:19 p.m. ET and ended at 11:04 p.m. ET — dragged on for a few hours after a handful of Republicans initially voted "no," though the final vote saw the motion pass 217-212.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus leveraged their votes to force an anti-CBDC bill to be tied to the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass bill that both chambers of Congress — the House and the Senate — vote on every year. This possibility was floated earlier in the day, two individuals familiar told CoinDesk.

Typically, in a procedural vote, the majority party and minority parties keep to party-line votes, regardless of whether the underlying legislation is expected to receive bipartisan support, as the crypto bills are expected to.

Read more: 'Crypto Week' Is Stuck Again as House Procedural Vote Drags On

As the vote dragged on, a "Dear Colleague" letter sent to House Democrats urged them to vote no on the underlying bills, pointing to the difficulties Republicans were having in clearing the procedural hurdle.

"Can we trust legislation when it’s in the hands of people who wreak chaos on even their own top priorities?" said the letter, seen by CoinDesk. "How can we trust how they will act when it’s time for serious implementation of the provisions of this legislation? America does not need the Crypto Chaos being delivered by House Republicans."

The House will vote on the GENIUS Act on Thursday, and if it passes, it will go to U.S. President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. The Clarity Act may receive a vote next week, Punchbowl News reported.

While the market structure Clarity bill will go to the Senate for a vote, the GENIUS bill's next stop is the president's desk for his signature. Both bills are expected to see bipartisan support, at least before Wednesday's hangup.

Read more: House's Crypto Markets Bill on Track, But Some in Industry Hope For Senate Overhaul

UPDATE (July 17, 2025, 03:37 UTC): Adds Andy Harris tweet.