Key facts
- The CLARITY Act advanced from the Senate Banking Committee with a 15-9 vote.
- Key Democrats have expressed conditional support for the CLARITY Act.
- The U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act on July 17.
- The CLARITY Act aims to establish clear rules for digital assets and inter-agency regulatory responsibilities.
- A bipartisan House package aims to enhance children's online safety.
- The children's safety package includes measures on AI chatbots and age verification.
- Lawmakers are divided on preemption and the scope of protections in the children's safety bill.
- The Chamber of Progress suggested the children's safety bill's approach may be too broad.
The CLARITY Act, designed to create clear regulatory frameworks for digital assets and define inter-agency responsibilities, has encountered obstacles in the Senate. The bill advanced from the Senate Banking Committee following a 15-9 vote. However, its progression to the full Senate is not guaranteed, as key Democratic senators have indicated conditional support, emphasizing that outstanding issues must be resolved prior to final approval. Concurrently, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing for July 17 concerning the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. This hearing date casts uncertainty on previous targets for a July 4 approval. The bill's objective is to provide definitive rules for digital assets and delineate regulatory duties among federal agencies. In a related but distinct development, a bipartisan package of bills focused on enhancing children's online safety is creating complexities within the broader federal AI policy debate. This package incorporates measures related to AI chatbots and age verification. Lawmakers are experiencing divisions regarding the extent of federal preemption and the overall scope of the proposed protections. The industry group Chamber of Progress has suggested that the current approach might be overly expansive.