Japan's Market Milestones After Tariffs Cuts, Ishiba's Exit Buzz
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Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
Market Structure Proposals May Not Capture Crypto Momentum In Congress
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 18: U.S. President Donald Trump, surrounded by lawmakers, signs the 'GENIUS ... More Act' into law during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House July 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. The act, formally known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, was passed this week by the U.S. Congress. (Photo by) The cryptocurrency industry has achieved its most significant win in Congress to date, winning passage of the GENIUS Act, which would regulate stablecoins, earlier this month. Now, lawmakers and lobbyists are looking to capitalize on the momentum to pass other bills into law. However, the targets for doing so, with the most notable measure being a bill to formalize digital asset market structure rules, are likely to prove tougher to send to President Donald Trump's desk. Support from Senate Democrats for the cryptocurrency means there is a chance of doing so, but the process is likely to take several months and could stretch into legislation was always perceived as the low-hanging fruit for Congress on crypto, making its passage a key bellwether for the amount of bipartisan support for digital assets legislation. Market structure legislation, on the other hand, is seen as a much more complex undertaking. This is in part because some of the divides between lawmakers concern building-block definitions of the proposals, such as which tokens are considered commodities and which are securities. The answer to this question will determine whether the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will be responsible for overseeing a given addition to debates over the text, there are possible political issues that could slow the progress of market structure legislation. One of these hurdles was on display during the House's crypto week in July, when conservative Republicans held up proceedings to advocate for the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, a measure that divides lawmakers along party lines, to have a path to law. The concession, as reported by Punchbowl News, was for the House to include the proposal in its draft of the annual defense policy bill. However, it could still be stripped out by the Senate and reignite this debate when future crypto legislation is considered. Another challenge will be Trump's crypto businesses, with some early Democratic supporters of stablecoin legislation in the Senate, such as Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), expressing reservations about the market structure bill in a recent hearing due to the president's involvement in the cryptocurrency there are reasons for optimism that the current Congress will be able to pass crypto market structure legislation, even if the process is longer than some lawmakers would like. Notably, the House version, the CLARITY Act, attracted support from nearly 80 Democrats, a sign of the bipartisan interest in addressing the issue. Additionally, some of the newer Senate Democrats, including Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), appear to be potential supporters, with some having backed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act last year. These members are joined by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has been leading Democratic support in the upper chamber this year. At least seven Democrats will need to support the measure for it to pass the Senate, with this group of lawmakers likely to be among those Republicans look to for the House having passed its version of market structure legislation, the fate of the bill is now in the Senate's hands. However, the upper chamber does not appear to plan to take up the House-passed version simply, which Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, voiced concerns about in a recent hearing. Instead, leading Senate Republicans released a discussion draft, accompanied by a request for industry feedback, earlier this week. The text includes some differences from the House proposal, such as the creation of a new category of digital tokens called 'ancillary assets.'Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has said he hopes to pass the measure in the upper chamber by the end of September. However, pushback from Democrats could delay this process, even if the bill can be passed by the committee before then. Scott had pushed for a similarly ambitious timeline for the stablecoin bill, aiming to pass it within the first 100 days of Trump's presidency, and, likely, he will again miss this target. A more realistic goal could be the passage of market structure legislation in the Senate by the end of the year, but achieving this will depend on the ability to garner support from Democrats, as none are currently sponsoring the will ultimately get sent to Trump's desk is more likely to resemble whatever the Senate ends up passing, making it a process well worth following closely. When lawmakers return in September after the August recess, committee action in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee will offer critical insight into just how likely Democratic support is and what it may take to garner the votes needed for market structure legislation to reach Trump's desk.
Wall Street Journal
a minute ago
- Wall Street Journal
WSJ Opinion: Are Republicans Capable of Cutting Spending?
Donald Trump scored a victory with the passage of his 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' and lawmakers recently approved a rescissions package that cuts $9 billion in spending. Yet Republicans remain far from their campaign promises to rein in the Joe Biden-era spending spree. On this episode of All Things, Kim Strassel speaks to one of the Senate's fiscal conservatives, Florida's Rick Scott, about the prospects for more reconciliation or rescission bills that cut government largesse, whether Senate Democrats will join to pass slimmer GOP appropriations bills (or provoke a government shutdown) as the September 30 funding deadline looms, and the criticisms surrounding Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. Photo: Monica Espitia
Business Insider
a minute ago
- Business Insider
Trump paused student-loan forgiveness for nearly 2 million borrowers on income-based repayment plans
Student-loan forgiveness just got more complicated. President Donald Trump's Department of Education quietly updated its guidance on student-loan forgiveness for borrowers on income-based repayment plans, which give enrolled borrowers monthly payments based on their income and family size with the promise of forgiveness after 20 or 25 years. According to Federal Student Aid data, just under 2 million borrowers were enrolled in IBR as of the second quarter of 2025. A notice posted on FSA's website said that ongoing litigation with former President Joe Biden's SAVE plan is preventing the administration from processing IBR forgiveness. "Currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated to accurately count months not affected by the court's injunction. IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed," the notice said. The SAVE plan, which allowed for cheaper monthly payments and a shorter timeline to debt relief, has been blocked since July 2024. Forgiveness through other repayment plans, including income-contingent repayment, was also blocked due to the court order. However, the court order did not include IBR, which falls under a different congressional statute. The department's deputy press secretary Ellen Keast told BI that the IBR relief pause is to "comply with ongoing court injunctions." "Legal IBR discharges will resume as soon as the Department is able to establish the correct payment count," Keast said. "For any borrower that makes a payment after they became eligible for forgiveness, the Department will refund overpayments when the discharges resume." Keast referred to a SAVE provision that allowed certain forbearance periods to count toward loan forgiveness. She said that while the court does not prevent relief through IBR, it impacts the types of forbearances that can be counted toward IBR relief, requiring the department to pause the discharges until it can adjust payment counts. The department did not comment on when the pause will be lifted. It comes at a precarious time for millions of borrowers — the department is restarting interest on SAVE borrowers' accounts beginning August 1, meaning their balances will once again start growing after a year on pause. To prevent balance growth, the department recommended that enrolled SAVE borrowers switch over to an IBR plan to begin making payments again. Trump's spending bill, which he signed into law on July 4, eliminated existing income-driven repayment plans and replaced them with two options: a standard repayment plan and a new Repayment Assistance Plan that allows for forgiveness after 30 years. Those plans aren't set to go into effect until July 2026. Since the bill also eliminates the SAVE plan, the department said borrowers should enroll in IBR in the meantime. Collections on defaulted student loans also restarted in May after a five-year pause, and the department said that wage garnishment will begin later this summer.
