House breaks record for longest vote on rule for crypto bills

The House set a new record for the longest vote in the history of the chamber Wednesday night, surpassing seven hours and 24 minutes on a vote to advance a trio of cryptocurrency bills as Republican leaders worked behind the scenes to get a handful of GOP holdouts on board.

The chamber officially broke the record at 8:43 p.m. as the vote on a rule — which governs debate for legislation — remained open. The previous record had been set roughly two weeks earlier, when a vote on the rule for the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” stalled for more than seven hours.

As of 9:30 p.m., the vote on the rule for the cryptocurrency bills remained open at a 208-221 tally, short of the majority vote needed for adoption. Ten Republicans were recorded as “no” votes.

The chamber remained in a standstill Wednesday as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) attempted to corral the various factions in his conference to adopt a rule governing debate on the three crypto bills, in addition to a measure to fund the Pentagon in the new fiscal year. The floor froze on Tuesday after 12 hard-line House Republicans torpedoed a rule.

After two hard-line Republicans, Reps. Chip Roy (Texas) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), and House Financial Services Vice Chair Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) all cast “no” votes, Johnson scrambled to salvage the rule vote. Huizenga eventually flipped his vote in support, but the hard-line opponents grew throughout the day. 

The vote remained open for hours as the Speaker met with members of the House Freedom Caucus, the House Financial Services Committee, and the House Agriculture Committee, attempting to reconcile their differences on the crypto bills. 

A key point of contention for hard-line Republicans is the lack of a provision in the GENIUS Act that would block the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

The GENIUS Act, one of the three bills up for consideration by the House, is poised to become law as it next heads to President Trump’s desk. 

While a second crypto bill, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC, it faces an uncertain path forward in the Senate. 

After 12 hard-line Republicans voted down an initial procedural vote Tuesday, Trump struck a deal with the lawmakers, in which anti-CBDC provisions would be added to a third crypto bill — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. 

Notably, the market structure bill also faces a complicated future, as the Senate prepares to put forward its own version of the legislation. 

However, the move appears to have frustrated members of the House Financial Services Committee, creating an impasse.