Senate
17 briefs
The Senate Is About to Draw the Map of Crypto. The Industry Does Not Know If It Will Like It.
The 309-page CLARITY Act goes to Senate Banking Committee markup on May 14 -- it splits crypto between the SEC and CFTC, bans stablecoin yield, and Polymarket gives it 58% odds of becoming law this year.
The Senate Has Voted Seven Times to End the Iran War and Lost Every Time. That Is Now the Point.
Murkowski flipped, the vote failed 50-49, and Democrats are not trying to stop the war anymore -- they are trying to force Republicans to own it before November.
Fund ICE for Three Years. Also Build the Ballroom.
Senate Republicans returned from recess to pass a $72 billion immigration enforcement package. Trump wants $1 billion in the same bill for White House ballroom security. Vulnerable Republicans have to vote on both.
The Stablecoin Bill Is Four Days From a Vote. Banks Just Tried to Kill It.
The CLARITY Act cleared the House with 294 votes. Banks rejected the Senate compromise the weekend before the markup. The argument is about yield. The war is about deposits.
The Farm Bill Passed With $187 Billion in Food Stamp Cuts Baked In. Now the Senate Has to Own It.
The House passed a Farm Bill that locks in SNAP cuts already signed into law. The Senate is not being asked to cut food assistance. It is being asked whether to restore it.
Trump Wants the Filibuster Dead. His Own Senate Won't Do It.
The SAVE America Act is stalled in the Senate not because of Democrats but because Republican senators refuse to eliminate the filibuster to pass it. Trump is furious. Thune is unmoved.
The Senate Banned Prediction Markets in Hours. It Has Never Managed to Ban Stock Trading.
Senators passed a unanimous rule banning themselves from Polymarket and Kalshi in a single day. The same body has failed for years to pass stock trading restrictions. The asymmetry is not an accident.
Coinbase Flipped on Crypto Regulation. That Should Make You Nervous.
Coinbase reversed its opposition to the CLARITY Act after senators struck a deal on stablecoin yields. The crypto industry now wants this bill to pass. When an industry stops fighting regulation, the regulation usually favors them.
The House Passed a Farm Bill. The Senate Needs 10 Democrats. Neither Side Wants to Give the Other What It Needs.
The Farm, Food, and National Security Act cleared the House 224-200, stripped of ethanol and pesticide protections that Republican farm-state members wanted. Now it needs 60 Senate votes, which means SNAP cuts that Democrats will not accept.
The Democratic Party Has Broken on Israel. The Leadership Is Pretending Otherwise.
All but 7 Senate Democrats just voted to block weapons sales to Israel. The same week, the DNC blocked a floor vote on a resolution condemning AIPAC. Both facts are true at once.
Kevin Warsh Clears Senate Banking Committee. The Fed's Independence Window Is Closing.
The party-line 13-11 vote advances a nominee who pledged Fed independence but whose confirmation is a direct reward for Trump's months-long pressure campaign against Powell.
The Longest Shutdown in History Is Being Ended by the Process That Caused It
Senate Republicans are using budget reconciliation to fund ICE without Democratic votes. Democrats used the shutdown to demand accountability for federal killings. Neither side is wrong, and neither can win.
Kevin Warsh Goes Before the Senate Promising Independence He May Not Be Able to Deliver
Trump's Fed pick is vowing to protect central bank autonomy while depending entirely on Trump's party to get confirmed. The contradiction is the point.
The Fed Nominee Who Owns What He Would Regulate
Kevin Warsh disclosed holdings in crypto and AI firms before his Senate hearing. The real question is not his investments. It is whether he will cut rates in a stagflation environment to satisfy the man who nominated him.
The Fourth Time Is Not the Charm
Senate Republicans blocked the Iran war powers resolution again. But the 60-day War Powers Act clock is ticking, and their private words no longer match their public votes.
The DHS Shutdown Ended. The Fight It Was About Did Not.
After 40 days, the Senate reopened most of the Department of Homeland Security but deliberately left ICE and Border Patrol funding unresolved. The compromise is not a settlement. It is a timeout.
The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise 21 Million People. Speaker Johnson Says That's the Point.
Trump's voter ID bill passed the House in February. A Republican speaker was caught on a hot mic saying it would cut 18% of the electorate. The Senate is now deciding whether that counts as a selling point.