CNBC's Emily Wilkins joins 'Squawk on the Street' with the latest news from Washington, D.C.

Washington

House Republicans have secured enough support to proceed with a set of significant cryptocurrency regulation bills. This development follows a late-night meeting at the White House and a public statement from Donald Trump, which helped unify party members after initial opposition from some hardline conservatives. The legislative package includes three bills: one regulating stablecoins, another defining the market structure for digital assets, and a third banning the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The stablecoin bill has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support and is expected to pass the House, while the other two bills will require further negotiation in the Senate. 

Some Republican members, particularly from the House Freedom Caucus, had expressed concerns about potential government surveillance through a CBDC and sought assurances that a ban would be enacted. With these assurances, the group is now prepared to move forward. In addition to the crypto bills, the Senate is also advancing a rescissions package, with ongoing discussions about funding for various programs, including AIDS prevention and local radio stations.

Trump locks in crypto bill support

House Republicans now appear to have the support needed to move forward with that key crypto regulation bill. And it is boosting crypto prices, along with some related names like Strategy. Let's get to Emily Wilkins this morning from D.C. After a brief moment there, Emily, where people were questioning the speaker's hold on some of those hard-liners. EMILY WILKINS, D.C. House Republican Leader Next, it was a very dramatic couple hours yesterday. As you remember, about a dozen Republicans blocked a vote to advance to voting on the crypto bills. There was a late-night meeting last night at the White House. Trump tweeted out that the members are now on board, and the House is preparing to move forward today. And so here's what we're going to see. Over the next two days, the House is set to pass three major bills that the crypto industry has been asking for. One deals with regulations on stablecoins. That's the Genius Act we have been talking about. The other is a bill called Clarity. Now, that's a market structure bill, and it defines the market for digital assets, when they're a security, when they're going to be a commodity. And then you've got a final bill that would ban the creation of a central bank digital currency, a CBDC. Now, a redo of yesterday's procedural vote to advance to all three, that's coming up here a little afternoon. But what's important to remember is that, while there are three different bills, they're on two different tracks. So that stablecoin bill already passed the Senate, got a good bipartisan vote. We're expecting similar in the House. The House, at this point, it seems likely to pass it tomorrow. Either way, we expect it to pass. We expect it. It could be signed into law before the end of the week. Today, the House is looking at potentially voting on the two other bills, market structure and the central bank digital currency. Both of those bills, though, they're not done with the House. They would then need to go to the Senate. And because those bills are more complex, they're likely to take a little bit longer to get done, or a lot longer, depending how negotiations go. Senator Cynthia Lummis, she's working on a Senate version of the House market structure bill. And she told me yesterday that they expect to have a draft of their bill out this week, but they might not start actually moving it forward until the fall or even later. Now, some sources I've spoken with in the industry and on Capitol Hill say there is a real question whether all three can get done or if it will just be stablecoin. But it sounds like the pressure is certainly on these lawmakers to be able to move this, especially market structure, because, guys, that's the one that a lot of these crypto industries want. That's the one that's really going to have a major impact. But of course, it is the harder one to get done. Guys? I don't get, where's the Republican opposition coming from? I know one of the big critics was Marjorie Taylor Greene. And the congresswoman wasn't happy that the Genius Act didn't have, I guess, a ban on central bank digital currencies, even though they were also voting to ban central bank digital currencies. So what, what are the issues? It gets, you're, Sarah, you're right. It gets really into the politics really quickly. Basically, the concern was that if they moved the stablecoin bill and allowed that to get to Trump's desk, Trump would say, hey, I got to win. The crypto community would say, hey, I got to win. And the pressure would be off to get that ban on that central bank digital currency done. The House Freedom Caucus members, some of these hardline conservatives, they really want to keep the pressure on. They are concerned that a central bank digital currency could lead to potential surveillance of Americans' financial transactions. And so that was what they were pushing for. I did speak with one of the holdouts today, Congressman Michael Cloud. And he said Trump really reassured them last night that there would not be a digital currency ban, that they could wind up getting that ban in place and getting it done. And now the members say that they feel more comfortable moving ahead with the intended votes. And finally, Emily, I'd like to get your take on either the rescissions and how that's worked out in the Senate with the Vance tiebreak, or this notion from Senator Hawley about rolling back some Medicaid cuts that he supported a couple of weeks prior. I love the multiple choice, Carl. I'm going to focus on the rescissions package because we could actually see the Senate pass that one today or early tomorrow. That one, again, as you mentioned, key vote last night that was taken to advance on the bill. You did see three Republican senators and, of course, all Democrats vote against that. But there were a couple of breakthroughs that came yesterday. There was a lot of concern for these Republican senators that funding was going to be cut for a program that's meant to stop and prevent AIDS. Yesterday, after lunch with OMB Director Russ Voigt, Republicans came to an agreement to leave that funding in place, take that out of the rescissions package. That seems to have unlocked some votes. But expect more amendments to be offered this afternoon when the Senate begins the process of voting. Keep a very close eye on what's going to happen with funding for local radio stations. That's another area that has a number of lawmakers concerned. And of course, once the Senate's done with this bill, it's going to have to go back to the House. And they have to get it done before Friday, because Friday is that 45-day deadline. And for those rescissions packages, if they're not done by then, then they're not done at all. Guys? That's what some public broadcasters are counting on, Emily. Thank you. Emily Wilkins in D.C.

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