Republican Senators in the U.S. Senate narrowly passed a budget bill through the budget reconciliation process – which was a top priority of President Donald Trump – despite strong opposition from many bipartisan members due to concerns about cuts to healthcare funding, AI-related regulations, and tax cuts that could lead to unfair wealth redistribution.
In a voting session that lasted over 24 hours, the Senate passed the bill titled "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" with a 50–50 vote, and Vice President JD Vance served as the tie-breaking vote. All Democratic Senators and three Republican Senators voted against it. Many members proposed amendments to address concerns regarding AI regulation and funding for rural hospitals.
During the debate, Senator Cynthia Lummis proposed adding a clause to address what she called an "unfair tax policy" for cryptocurrency miners and stakers. However, this content did not appear in any amendments discussed in the first two days of the week, and the bill was passed without mentioning cryptocurrency taxes.
"Personally, I hope that clause was included in the final version," Congressman Nicholas Begich (Alaska) shared after the vote. "However, I believe there will be other opportunities for us to incorporate that content into important bills that must pass."
After the bill was passed, Senator Lummis acknowledged that "this bill is not perfect" but still regarded it as "a significant step in the right direction." The bill will be sent back to the House to consider amendments from the Senate. Currently, the Republicans hold a slim majority in Congress and face strong opposition from the Democrats.
Senator Elizabeth Warren harshly criticized the bill on social media: "Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress are planning to write a $15 billion check to Meta just for their existence – and pay for it by cutting healthcare for millions of Americans." She emphasized: "They care more about billion-dollar corporations than the people."
Senator Jeff Merkley also proposed an amendment to the budget bill, similar to the content he previously suggested for the GENIUS Act. This amendment proposed to prohibit the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and government officials from owning or promoting digital assets. However, the amendment was rejected in the Senate.
The budget bill is a priority in Congress.
Although both the Senate and the House are advancing important bills such as regulations on payment stablecoins, establishing a national Bitcoin reserve fund, and building a legal framework for the digital asset market, these initiatives will have to give way to the process of passing the budget bill.
The GENIUS Act was passed by the Senate on June 17 and is awaiting consideration by the House. Congressman Begich commented that there will be "very few, if any, changes" to the content of the act, showing respect for the request from President Trump: "Put it on my desk, no additions."
"I think the Bitcoin reserve fund bill will be introduced by the end of this year or early next year," Begich said. As the sponsor of the BITCOIN 2025 Act, he added: "There is currently a lot of legislative activity scheduled in Congress, but everything will have to give way to budget-related efforts and budget reconciliation."
In terms of the legal framework for the market, the House has approved bringing the CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) out of committee since June. However, Republican leaders in the Senate Banking Committee indicated they plan to draft their own version and try to pass it before October.