Just after midnight on Friday, July 18, the House cleared the Senate’s amended version of the rescission bill. But that’s not all – they passed another four as well, including one of the many necessary spending packages for the 2026 budget. Now, President Donald Trump gets to sign the first of his DOGE cuts into law. And already the White House signals more to come.
Another Late Night for the House
After several rounds of all-nighters in both chambers, Congress set what may have been the tone for the whole legislative session with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. True to that tradition, the House – on the last day legally possible – approved the Senate’s amendments to the president’s rescissions request just after midnight.
While there was initially some concern over the changes made in the Senate to the bill already passed by the House in June, the process was considerably smoother Thursday night and Friday morning than it was the first time. The final vote came just two hours after the issue was first called up following a recess of several hours, and the bill fared slightly better than its initial vote.
As Liberty Nation News previously reported, the House initially approved the DOGE cuts 214-212 on June 12, a narrow victory that couldn’t have been cut much closer. The House voted 216-213 this time. In what’s quickly becoming a “the usual suspects” sort of situation, just two Republicans – Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Michael Turner of Ohio – voted “no.” Reps. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Mark Green (R-TN), and Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) all abstained.
President Trump now has until 11:59 p.m. to make it official. As tight as the schedule was for the congressional votes, now one might as well say Trump has all the time in the world.
Managing Crypto and Planning for Next Year
DOGE cuts weren’t the only item on the docket Thursday. In fact, it was a bipartisan House that sent the Senate’s GENIUS Act on to the president’s desk with a 308-122 vote. The cleverly named Guiding and Establishing National Innovations for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins – that is, cryptocurrencies with a fixed value. To summarize and probably oversimplify a long, complex legislation, stablecoins can only be issued by certain types of insured institutions that must follow banking regulations and maintain a reserve.
Republicans largely supported the bill, with 206 yeas to just 12 nays and two not voting. Democrats, however, were more evenly split, with 102 yeas to 110 nays.
The House also passed a couple of crypto regulations of its own, sending them to the Senate. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over “digital commodities,” defined by the bill as “digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value.” Should this pass the Senate and be signed by the president, it would end the “wild west” days of crypto trading in the US. The measure is off to a good start. It passed 294-134 with 216 Republicans and 78 democrats in support, 134 Democrats opposed, and four Republicans not voting.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, introduced by Tom Emmer (R-MN), does pretty much what the short title suggests. “This bill prohibits a Federal Reserve bank from offering products or services directly to an individual, maintaining an account on behalf of an individual, or issuing a central bank digital currency (i.e., a digital dollar),” the summary states.
It passed 219-210. Three Republicans – Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Jay Obernolte of California, and Tennessee’s Mark Green – abstained, while the remaining 217 supported the measure. Two Democrats – Maine’s Jared Golden and Michigan’s Shri Thanedar – joined the GOP, while the remaining 210 opposed. So, to sum up the situation, that’s yes to government regulation of crypto trading, yes to highly regulated stablecoins, but no to going so far as having the Fed issue, control, and track a digital dollar.
The final act of Congress before adjourning until Monday, July 21, was passing the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2026. Yep, you read that right – rather than waiting until the last moment and risking a partial shutdown at the end of September, the GOP is getting started on next year’s funding. Both chambers have been working on the beginnings of various appropriations bills, but this is the first to be passed. The final tally came in at 221-209. That’s 216 Republicans joined by five Democrats to 206 Democrats joined by three Republicans, with one of each party not voting.
DOGE Isn’t Done
Before the House even approved President Trump’s first rescissions request, White House Budget Director Russ Vought announced a second round of DOGE cuts will likely be coming soon. He didn’t offer up anything specific, just said more were likely to come. Basically, this one worked, so let’s do more! Some Republicans, however, aren’t as excited about the prospect. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are perturbed by the lack of communication coming out of the White House on just exactly how these spending cuts will be applied or what’s coming next. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) gave a skeptical “we’ll see” when asked about signing off on additional cuts. “We’ll see what the future holds, but the goal right now is to get into the appropriations process,” he told reporters. “Let’s start marking up bills, trying to get them on the floor.”
But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and the president have all promised more rescissions. The timeline remains unclear, however. And with the end of fiscal year 2025 fast approaching, the annual federal funding fight is likely to dominate lawmakers’ efforts for the foreseeable future.
