There are two timelines at war, now. First, the Senate’s own calendar is famously difficult to negotiate, with any contentious bill requiring days of floor time. Each passing hour narrows the legislation’s odds as just seven days remain before the recess, when senators will leave Washington and largely shift focus to the consequential midterm elections bearing down on them.
The other time crunch has been the clock ticking on the negotiating table, where the two parties and the White House are still working to round up the necessary 60 votes. Their final effort must win over a lot of resistant Democrats and a few reluctant Republicans.
Crypto lobbyists are fervently hoping that negotiators — especially Tillis and Gallego — can find a workable middle ground, circulate the refurbished bill again and watch it advance through the Senate voting process. At this point, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s prediction remains sturdy: The bill almost certainly doesn’t have enough time to finish the Senate’s multi-stage process before the break.
But if it were to get started and potentially clear an initial 60-vote hurdle before next week is out, that could be enough to get it on a winning path. To give that possibility its best chance, the industry would want to see Thune roll out the first motion before the end of the week on what’s called “cloture,” the procedure that sets a bill up for votes.