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Discussions about the digital asset market structure bill that is currently being considered in the US Senate are still taking place amid the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.
According to a report from Tuesday Politico, Republican Senator John Boozman with the Senate Agriculture Committee – one of the committees that will have to approve the bill before considering it in the full chamber – will discuss the legislation of the structure of the market with crypto of the White House and AI czar David Sacks and Democratic Senator Cory Booker. The reported call comes as lawmakers prepare to finalize a debate draft of the bill.
The market structure project is expected to be one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting the crypto industry to come out of the current session of Congress.
Initially passed by the House of Representatives in July, many had expected that the bill pass in the Senate with bipartisan support. However, the talks have been complicated by Democrats. insistence on provisions for decentralized financial protocols and the US government shutdown, which entered its 36th day on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether Senate lawmakers intend to prioritize any crypto legislation ahead of a funding bill to reopen the government and return financial agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to full staff and operations.
However, after a few high-profile Democratic victories in Tuesday’s election, some senators, including Chris Murphy, have suggested holding the line to push Republican lawmakers to support extending health care subsidies and reverse cuts from a July funding bill.
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Is the timeline to pass the market structure still in place?
Last week, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, said lawmakers had until “early January, February” pass crypto legislation before the 2026 midterm elections complicate the process.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the sponsors of the market structure bill in the banking committee, initially said she planned to have the legislation. signed into law at the end of the year, a timeline that seemed less likely amid the shutdown.
“Right now, we’re working at the staff level every day to get the necessary votes in committee to get out of committee,” Lummis. he said in a Tuesday interview with Bloomberg about the market structure bill. “These are bipartisan discussions. They’re at the granular level. We’re making tremendous progress. […]”
Speaking at Ripple’s Swell conference in New York City on Wednesday, the executive director of President Donald Trump’s Digital Assets Advisory Council, Patrick Witt, he said the government shutdown has “presented some complications” with discussions about the structure of the market.
He added that having legislators more available due to the lack of meetings during the shutdown allowed for additional commitment, but the licensing staff from the agencies presented a lack of “technical skills” to consider the project.
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