(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans on Wednesday followed directions from President Donald Trump to move forward with a package of legislation that includes three cryptocurrency measures — a day after hard-liners defied the president and tanked it.
The House passed the procedural motion after the hard-liners failed to advance it on Tuesday. Still there was some drama as several Republicans voted against it before changing their votes.
On Tuesday, Trump said he made a deal with the Republicans who voted against the crypto bills — CLARITY, GENIUS and Anti CBDC Surveillance Act.
Trump — who has said crypto is a top priority for his administration — said in a social media post on Tuesday that he met in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 GOP members needed to pass the package and that they “all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule.” Trump did not provide specifics about the deal.
That conservatives who voted against the rule on Tuesday wanted the crypto bills combined into one big package, rather than take separate standalone votes on each measure.
Johnson on Tuesday thanked Trump for helping lock down the necessary votes to advance the crypto legislation.
“I’m thankful for President Trump getting involved tonight to ensure that we can pass the GENIUS Act tomorrow and agreeing again to help us advance additional crypto legislation in the coming days,” Johnson said, referencing the name of one of the bills.
Earlier Tuesday, a dozen House Republicans bucked Trump and Johnson to prevent the legislation from advancing on the floor — joining the entire Democratic caucus — and, at least temporarily, freezing activity in the House. The final tally was 196-223.
Johnson had said earlier that while he anticipated that there may be enough opposition to defeat the effort, he felt that it was “important” to try to advance the bills. Republicans have a narrow majority in the House — with 220 Republicans compared to 212 Democrats.
“This is the legislative process. We have some members who really, really want to emphasize the House’s product,” Johnson said. “They want to, want to push that and merge them together. We’re trying to work with the White House and with our Senate partners on this. I think everybody is insistent that we’re going to do all three, but some of these guys insist that it needs to be all in one package.”
Trump touted the legislation on Tuesday, urging Republicans to advance the bills.
“The GENIUS Act is going to put our Great Nation lightyears ahead of China, Europe, and all others, who are trying endlessly to catch up, but they just can’t do it,” Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday. “Digital Assets are the FUTURE, and we are leading by a lot! Get the first Vote done this afternoon (ALL REPUBLICANS SHOULD VOTE YES!).”
The vote came during what the White House is calling “Crypto Week” and marks a rare instance when House Republicans have defied Trump’s direction.
Trump, who launched his own crypto meme coin earlier this year, recently said he is a “fan of crypto” and called it a “very powerful industry” that the U.S. has “dominated.”
“I’m president. And what I did do there is build an industry that’s very important,” Trump said last month. “If we didn’t have it, China would.”
Once a crypto skeptic, Trump and his family have fully immersed themselves in the cryptocurrency marketplace, developing not only the $TRUMP meme coin, but also a bitcoin mining firm, a stablecoin firm and a crypto reserve.
ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
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