US House of Representatives ‘Leaderless’, Cryptocurrency Legislation May Stall

US House of Representatives leaderless, cryptocurrency legislation may stall

On October 4th, after the dramatic downfall of California Republican Congressman McCarthy, crypto-friendly Congressman LianGuaitrick T. McHenry will temporarily take over as Speaker of the House. North Carolina Congressman LianGuaitrick T. McHenry, who took the gavel, may oversee the election of a new Speaker. However, he does not have the power to manage the House.

The following is a specific analysis of the impact of the current chaos in the US Congress on US cryptocurrency legislation.

Who is LianGuaitrick T. McHenry?

Before McCarthy was dismissed, most people had not heard much about LianGuaitrick T. McHenry, the gentleman from North Carolina who wears glasses and a tie, whose legislative focus is primarily on fiscal policy. However, he is somewhat well-known in the crypto community, and the most familiar thing is that he once called out SEC Chairman Gary Gensler: “If Gensler continues to ignore regulatory requests, he will receive a subpoena. I don’t think you want to be the first SEC chairman to receive a congressional subpoena.”

This is not the first time he has pushed back. In a hearing on “Oversight of the SEC,” McHenry asked Gensler, “Why is Bitcoin not considered a security?”

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In addition, during his tenure as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (this summer), he proposed two bills to regulate cryptocurrencies (“Stablecoin Transparency Act” and “Token Safekeeping Act”) as well as a bill targeting stablecoins.

But now, as the interim Speaker and the reluctant leader of the paralyzed House, he has become the focus of attention.

LianGuaitrick T. McHenry is a 10-term Congressman who previously served as a member of the House Republican leadership. After the Republican Party lost seats in the House in 2018, he resigned from this position.

• He, as the current Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has received more attention in recent debt ceiling negotiations and has served as McCarthy’s appointed liaison with the White House to avoid a government shutdown.

• He is a typical fiscal conservative and proudly states in his House biography that he “has never voted to support a tax increase” throughout his career.

• Now, he is the interim Speaker of the House, which is a placeholder role, essentially acting as the temporary Speaker while the majority party, the Republican Party, decides on the next steps.

“The House is still in a frozen state”

McCarthy was forced out due to power struggles with right-wing Republicans like Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Every Speaker creates a succession list upon taking office, and McHenry’s name was at the top of McCarthy’s list.

Due to the Republican turmoil exacerbating the chaos of who can take over House leadership, the US House of Representatives is effectively still in a frozen state. On Wednesday, Republican members met with potential Speaker candidates and also held discussions with different factions within the party.

“In this case, this situation could last for weeks,” said Garret Graves, a Republican congressman from Louisiana, as he left the House of Representatives during a competing meeting.

McHenry plans to hold a speaker candidate forum on Tuesday, one week after McCarthy’s dismissal, which means the earliest a new speaker can be elected is that day. Meanwhile, other actions of the House of Representatives, including any legislative affairs, may come to a halt.

Congressman Garret Graves said, “The situation we are facing now is unprecedented, and the House of Representatives is effectively frozen.”

“This is a blank sheet. Therefore, limitations or authorities are truly unknown,” Graves said, “so people are trying to figure out how to build an airplane while flying.”

Stagnation in cryptocurrency legislation

The House of Representatives is frozen, which may waste precious time to push cryptocurrency bills closer to the finish line.

In July, McHenry’s committee just introduced two bills, waiting for a full vote in the House of Representatives and then passing them to the Senate. One bill regulates stablecoins, while the other takes a comprehensive approach to creating a cryptocurrency regulatory framework; even if they eventually vote in the House of Representatives, they still need support in the Senate, which may be difficult.

Ron Hammond, Director of Government Relations at the Blockchain Association, said, “These bills are just sitting there, and we really can’t do anything about it. We can only wait for overall political development and then reintroduce legislation, which is unfortunate. We are a bit stuck now.”

The House of Representatives will be forced to vote for a new speaker, but it is not clear who will win enough votes to win the position.

McCarthy said he would not run for speaker again. Majority Whip Tom Emmer (also a crypto-friendly congressman) told reporters that he would not run. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (not involved in the crypto field) said he had no announcements to make at the moment.

Members told reporters that they expect to hold a candidate forum on Tuesday before voting for the speaker, possibly as early as Wednesday.

The House rules do not explicitly prohibit the acting speaker from exercising the powers of the elected speaker. However, former House general counsel Stan M. Brand said, “The rules that led to Mr. McHenry’s promotion were developed with consideration for temporary absences, not vacant seats. This leaves legal space for Mr. McHenry to exercise broader powers, such as conducting legislative affairs if he wishes.”

During this “vacancy period,” it is not clear whether McHenry will engage in legislative affairs during his tenure as acting speaker, but partisan disputes have indeed affected the progress of cryptocurrency legislation.

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