United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry has pointed a finger at the Biden administration for the lack of bipartisan agreement on a stablecoin bill.
In a July 27 hearing, Representative McHenry said the version of the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, H.R. 4766, being considered for markup was not based on negotiations between himself and ranking member Maxine Waters. He added that though the committee was “closer than [they]’ve ever been” on a bipartisan solution, the White House did not “share that same sense of urgency” as lawmakers.
“A few small, but nonetheless important, provisions stood between us and a deal,” said McHenry. “It was the White House’s unwillingness to compromise that has once again brought that negotiation to a halt.”
The stablecoin bill was one of many pieces of crypto-related legislation in the House committee. On July 26, lawmakers moved two key bills through that were aimed at providing regulatory clarity to crypto firms: the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act.
Representative Waters placed the blame for the lack of bipartisan agreement on the stablecoin bill on the “impatience of Republican leadership,” claiming the legislation was “a race to the bottom” with limited oversight over licensing and potential conflicts between approaches by U.S. state regulators and those at the federal level.
“Important legislation takes time,” said Waters. “The chair is impatient and has decidedly to abruptly end our negotiations and move forward with the bill that is deeply problematic. […] Under this framework, Amazon, Walmart, Facebook can create their own stablecoins or even be affiliated with a stablecoin issuer.”
“The Fed do not support the bill, Treasury does not support the bill, and we don’t have the support of those who asked us to get involved with a stablecoin bill to begin with.”
At the time of publication, it was unclear whether H.R. 4766 had the votes for passage through the committee. Lawmakers are also expected to discuss the Keep Your Coins Act introduced by Representative Warren Davidson, a bill aimed at preventing U.S. government agencies from exercising certain authority over individuals’ self-custodied crypto wallets.
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe execs once ruled out adopting crypto over concerns of volatility and risk, and the banking giant also blocked customer crypto transactions back in 2015.
Sir Keir Starmer continues to face the threat of a major rebellion during a key vote on welfare reforms later – despite making last-minute concessions to disgruntled Labour MPs.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that all existing claimants of the personal independence payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, will be protected from changes to eligibility.
The combined value of the standard Universal Credit allowance and the health top-up will rise “at least in line with inflation” every year of this parliament.
And an additional £300m for employment support for sick and disabled people in 2026 has been announced, which will rise every year after.
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10:54
Welfare cuts ‘needed to be made’
Ms Kendall has also promised that a consultation into PIP – “co-produced” with disabled people – will be published next autumn.
She said the U-turn on welfare cuts will cost taxpayers about £2.5bn by 2030 – less than half the £4.8bn the government had expected to save with its initial proposals.
But after announcing the U-turns, Labour MPs were still publicly saying they could not back the plans as they do not go far enough to allay their concerns.
Disabilities minister Stephen Timms would not say he was “confident” the proposals would pass the Commons when asked on Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.
“We’ve got a very strong package, I certainly hope it passes,” he replied.
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1:49
‘Disabled people thrown under the bus’
A total of 86 charities united yesterday to call on MPs to reject the reforms, saying they will harm disabled people and calling it “a political choice”.
The likes of Oxfam, Child Action Poverty Group, Mind and Shelter said the bill has been brought to a vote without consulting disabled people and without any assessment “of its impact on health and employment outcomes”.
When asked to name “a single” disability organisation in favour of the reforms, Ms Kendall declined to do so.
Several Labour MPs indicated they would still vote against the changes, leaving the government in the dark over how big a rebellion it still may face.
Ms Kendall tried to allay their fears, telling MPs: “I believe we have a fair package, a package that protects existing claimants because they’ve come to rely on that support.”
Richard Burgon presented a petition to parliament yesterday evening against the cuts, signed by more than 77,000 people.
Several Labour MPs questioned why the vote was going ahead before the review into PIP is published – including Rachael Maskell, who said she could not “countenance sick and disabled people being denied support” and added: “It is a matter of conscience.”
Connor Naismith said the concessions “undoubtedly improve efforts to secure welfare reform which is fair”, but added: “Unfortunately, I do not believe these concessions yet go far enough.”
Image: Labour rebel Nadia Whittome said the government was ‘ignoring’ disabled people
Nadia Whittome accused the government of “ignoring” disabled people and urged ministers to go “back to the drawing board”.
Ian Byrne told the Commons he will vote against the “cruel cuts” to disability benefits because the “so-called concessions go nowhere near far enough”.
The vote will take place this evening, with coverage on Sky News’ Politics Hub live blog and on TV.