House rules panel advances floor consideration of three major crypto bills amid ethics and national‑security debate

The House Rules Committee on Thursday advanced a rules package that clears the House floor to consider three high‑profile digital‑asset measures — HR 36 33 (the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act), HR 19 19 (Anti‑CBDC Veil State Act) and S 15 82 (the Genius Act on payment stablecoins) — after a multihour panel of witnesses and lawmakers debated where authority should sit, the protections the bills provide, and potential conflicts of interest involving elected officials.

What the committee did: the Rules Committee reported a resolution that makes the floor consideration of HR 36 33 subject to a structured rule (with an amendment in the nature of a substitute treated as adopted), HR 19 19 under a closed rule, and S 15 82 under a closed rule. Those procedural steps now allow the House to debate and vote on the measures on the floor subject to the time limits and amendment rules reported by the panel.

Who testified: witnesses included House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry’s panel colleagues and the lead authors of the bills — Representative French Hill and Representative Bennie Thompson’s surrogates — and key witnesses included Representative Hill’s senior staff and committee chairs from Financial Services and Agriculture. Chairman French Hill and Chairman Garret Graves (sic: Chairman Hill and Chairman Thompson participated) and other members of the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees argued for a statutory framework to close regulatory gaps and to provide clarity to market participants.

Key provisions and debates

- HR 36 33, the Clarity Act: Sponsors said the bill closes gaps between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission by drawing clearer lines of authority — with the SEC overseeing…