Bitcoin Magazine reports that time is running short for a vote on the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act, even as bipartisan negotiations intensify and the White House reviews the latest draft behind closed doors. The bill’s next steps matter because a market structure measure of this scope would help determine how Congress intends to handle digital-asset oversight, but lawmakers are now racing the calendar as the Senate approaches a five-week recess.

Senator Thom Tillis said bipartisan language drafted and sent to the White House last week is now under review. “We’ve got people working with White House right now…they’re going through some of the lines right now,” he was quoted as saying in a report first published by Punchbowl News senior reporter Brendan Pedersen.

According to Punchbowl News, Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to file cloture on the crypto market structure bill on Wednesday afternoon, leaving negotiators with only a narrow window to reach a deal. Earlier in the day, Thune told reporters he still hoped for a vote before the break. Republican and Democratic staff reportedly held a series of meetings over the previous 24 hours in an effort to resolve remaining disagreements.

Despite optimism last week from major crypto companies such as Coinbase and support from large financial institutions, lawmakers now appear to be focusing on other bills before the five-week recess scheduled to begin Thursday or Friday. That leaves the Clarity Act competing with the Senate’s limited floor time, which is often the deciding factor in whether closely negotiated legislation advances before members leave Washington.

JUST IN: Senator Tillis tells says the White House is now engaging on bipartisan Clarity Act ethics text, Punchbowl News reports. “We’ve got people working with the White House right now…they're going through some of the lines right now” pic.twitter.com/y3vUHDcbr9 — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 5, 2026

Republicans including Senator Cynthia Lummis have said Democrats are deliberately delaying the bill. Tillis, who has been working with Democrats on ethics language for the legislation, said the chances of a vote depend on whether the Senate remains in Washington beyond its scheduled Thursday departure.

“If we were getting out on schedule, which would be tomorrow afternoon, I think it’d be a moonshot at this point,” Tillis said. “But there’s still a chance if we’re going to be delayed, particularly if we have to go into next week.”

Momentum for the bill is also building outside the Senate floor. South Carolina Republican Darline Graham posted on X in support of quick passage, describing the Clarity Act as central to President Trump’s effort to keep digital-asset innovation in the U.S. She said the Senate should pass a bill that protects consumers, equips law enforcement, and gives the industry regulatory certainty, and added that she is ready to support Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott, Senator Cynthia Lummis, and the president in getting the legislation “across the finish line.”

If cloture is filed on Thursday, a floor vote could still take place as soon as this weekend. A delay into next week may be the bill’s best remaining chance of passing before recess.