US Senate discussions over President Donald Trump’s mega tax and spending bill could go all night as senators look to tack on amendments, including some that would affect crypto.
The Senate’s vote-a-rama — where lawmakers can propose amendments that are rapidly voted on — for the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been going on for 17 hours at the time of publication, with senators on both sides bidding to include hundreds of amendments.
The voting could go into the early hours of Tuesday, local time in Washington, D.C., as Trump wants the bill passed by Friday, July 4.
The House passed the bill in May with a razor-thin 215 to 214 vote, and the Republicans’ slim Senate majority means it could also come down to the wire in the upper chamber.
Lummis seeks crypto tax amendments
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis put forward an amendment she said was aimed at ending the “unfair tax treatment” of crypto and would “ensure Americans can use digital assets without fear of tax violations.”
“For years, miners and stakers have been taxed TWICE. Once when they receive block rewards, and again when they sell it.”
Lummis’ amendment would waive taxes on crypto transactions under $300 with a $5,000 yearly total cap, including stablecoins, according to an explainer sheet from Lummis’ office seen by Cointelegraph.
Other provisions in the amendment would exclude most crypto lending agreements from being taxed and stipulate that crypto earned from airdrops, mining and staking is not be taxable until sold.
Another provision would also apply the 30-day wash sale rule to crypto, which would ban selling a digital asset for a loss and replacing it with a similar asset 30 days before or after the sale.
Political crypto promo amendment shot down
Earlier on Monday, the Senate shot down a Democrat-backed amendment that would have prohibited government officials and their families from offering or promoting a range of digital assets.
The amendment — backed by Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed — would ban the president, vice president, members of Congress and a host of other government officials from owning or promoting a cryptocurrency, memecoin, token, non-fungible token or stablecoin.
That ban would have been extended to the spouse and children of such officials, and notably former special government employees — such as Elon Musk — for up to one year after their role ends.
Lummis was one of the lawmakers who shot down the amendment and said in remarks on the Senate floor that she appreciated the “concerns about ethics” but claimed the proposal “would inflict serious harm on American innovation and competitiveness.”
She added the amendment “goes too far” by applying restrictions on the family of government officials, and if the US had passed a similar law “in the early days of the internet, we would have sent a clear message that America is closed for business.”
Musk promises new political party if bill passes
Musk, Trump’s former government cost-cutting czar who later got into an online spat with the president over the “Big Beautiful Bill,” has reignited the feud, saying on X that he’d form a new political party if the bill passes.
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk wrote to X on Monday.
“Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty.”
Related: Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill could trigger a US debt crisis and Bitcoin boom
The Tesla boss has taken issue with the government spending allowance in the bill, which is estimated to add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, having called it a “disgusting abomination.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, helped bankroll Trump’s campaign but earlier threatened in a separate post that he’d look to unseat any lawmakers who supported the bill.
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote.
“They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he added.
Magazine: US risks being ‘front run’ on Bitcoin reserve by other nations — Samson Mow
