President Donald Trump suffered a setback Wednesday as a key piece of legislation remained stalled, despite his boast of confidence the night before that it would pass in the morning.
"I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule," Trump wrote on Tuesday evening. "Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was at the meeting via telephone, and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible. I want to thank the Congressmen/women for their quick and positive response. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
But it seems as though his celebration was a bit premature, as Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reports that over half a dozen Republicans, all from the far-right flank of the caucus, are still voting against the rule to advance the legislation.
The GENIUS Act seeks to create the first-ever regulatory framework for stablecoins, or cryptocurrency intended to remain relatively stable in value.
From the outset, the bill was controversial because it appeared to include a carveout to let Trump issue stablecoins and profit off them while in office. Initially, a critical mass of Democrats came out against the bill in the Senate on these grounds. That loophole remains, but a number of Democrats relented after Republicans agreed to include a number of other consumer protections in the bill.
The main reason the far-right is holding up the bill is that they want tougher language to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing digital currency. Conspiracy theorists have long feared such a currency could be used by the federal government to spy on people's lives, and crypto industry figures are similarly opposed because it would compete with their financial products.
