Senate Returns for Final Sprint Before Midterms

The U.S. Senate returned to Washington on Monday from a five-week recess, opening a compressed final legislative sprint before the November 3 midterm elections that will test whether a narrowly divided chamber can deliver on cryptocurrency regulation, college sports rules, artificial intelligence policy and a lapsed surveillance authority. According to CBS News, lawmakers now expect to leave town next month to campaign, leaving roughly three weeks of legislative time — a window that makes every item on the agenda uncertain.

The House also returned Monday, but is set to depart again at the end of the week and is not expected to come back until after the midterms. Lawmakers from both chambers have already pushed off a government funding fight until after the election, avoiding a shutdown for now.

The Clarity Act Heads Toward a Test Vote

The most immediate test comes Tuesday, when the Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on the Clarity Act, which would establish a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. CNBC reported that the bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May but has languished since, with leaders struggling to assemble the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. With full attendance, at least seven Democrats would need to support it; only two backed it in committee.

The vote follows a late-Sunday release of what Republican sponsors call their final offer. The updated text reflects large parts of a crypto ethics agreement brokered by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) that President Trump has agreed to, including a key Democratic demand to let state attorneys general enforce ethics requirements on federal officials. It also adds a stablecoin compromise directing the Treasury secretary to restrict rewards if deposit flight from community banks occurs on a substantial scale.

Sponsors argue the concessions are substantial. “This text is truly bipartisan and includes more than 120 of Democrats’ demands,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). “Democrats got what they wanted; now they need to take yes for an answer.” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) emphasized that Tuesday’s vote would only end debate, not pass the bill: “If Senators have concerns about the bill, they can offer an amendment after we agree to take it up.”

Not all Democrats are persuaded. “This is a bill that is masquerading as a way to create good regulation and protection for consumers with respect to cryptocurrency, but it has some big problems that have not been fixed,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said. “We can’t let this pass.” Banks remain opposed as well: the American Bankers Association, joined by nearly 80 other banking groups, warned in a letter that interest-like stablecoin yields could pull deposits out of community banks.

College Sports Bill Faces Entrenched Opposition

Also on the docket is the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan measure from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) that would set federal guardrails for the college sports economy — including name, image and likeness rights and transfer eligibility — and grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption. A Senate vote had been expected between September 15 and 26, with the Big Ten and SEC backing the bill and the White House signaling support.

As the Associated Press reported, the bill would limit players to one unrestricted transfer, adopt a five-year eligibility period, prohibit midseason coaching changes under what became known as the “Lane Kiffin Rule,” and rework the Sports Broadcasting Act to let conferences pool television rights. “This is a stability bill, not just an NIL bill,” Cruz said.

Opposition has hardened nonetheless. In August, the Congressional Black Caucus said it could not support advancing the legislation, and the NAACP also came out against it. As USA Today reported, a coalition of sexual abuse survivors, whistleblowers and parents of deceased athletes has also objected, arguing the bill’s health and safety protections are undermined by loopholes — including sovereign immunity for public universities and a 30-day “cure” provision. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) framed the antitrust exemption as the central problem: “It gives the NCAA an antitrust exemption that no other industry gets just so they can keep underpaying the athletes.”

AI Debate Collides With a Growth-First White House

A sudden wave of alarm from technology leaders has thrust artificial intelligence onto the agenda — though any legislation before the midterms appears highly unlikely. On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a blog post, “We Must Pace the Frontier,” urging slower development. Days earlier, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned with a warning that the technology could “kill us all by the end of the decade,” and over the weekend OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk both endorsed calls for a slowdown.

President Trump pushed back sharply. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” he wrote on Truth Social, later adding, “Don’t kill the Golden Goose!” CNBC reported that Trump also attacked Amodei personally, saying he was “pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel.’”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warned against an emergency scramble to legislate. “If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China,” he told CNN. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an all-senators briefing from administration officials, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said action on AI would be a “high priority” for his caucus.

A Lapsed Surveillance Authority and Other Priorities

The Senate could also move to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired in June after Democrats blocked renewal over the appointment of Bill Pulte to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Lawmakers had reached a bipartisan deal to extend the warrantless surveillance authority for three years before Trump disrupted it. Jay Clayton was later confirmed 51-47 as permanent DNI on July 28.

Other items round out the calendar. The Farm bill did not advance out of the Agriculture Committee ahead of recess amid the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has not returned to Capitol Hill since he was hospitalized in June. Senate Republicans are also expected to work through a slate of nominations, while a third reconciliation push — aimed at funding the Iran war, farmer aid and elements of the SAVE America Act — appears unlikely to see Senate action.

Analysis: A Race Against the Calendar

The sprint reflects a structural reality of modern Congress: the most ambitious legislative work gets squeezed into the narrow window between a long recess and an election that could change control of the chamber. That dynamic makes Tuesday’s Clarity Act vote less a verdict on crypto policy than a test of whether the Senate can still function as a legislating body under deadline pressure.

Each item also carries a distinct political logic. The crypto bill lets both parties claim wins — Democrats on ethics, Republicans on innovation leadership — but the banking industry’s opposition cuts across party lines and gives wavering senators cover to vote no. The college sports measure unites an unusual coalition of the NCAA, major conferences and the White House against a civil rights and athlete-safety bloc, making its whip count unpredictable. And AI, despite the loudest headlines, is the least likely to produce law, because the administration views regulation itself as a competitive risk against China.

What to Watch

The immediate signal will be Tuesday’s Clarity Act cloture vote — whether at least seven Democrats are willing to keep the bill alive on the promise of amendments to come. If it fails, the bill may not return before this Congress ends. Beyond that, watch whether the Protect College Sports Act reaches the floor despite the Congressional Black Caucus and survivor opposition, whether any AI measure gains traction at all, and whether the Senate can revive Section 702 before campaign season fully takes hold. With roughly three weeks on the clock, the Senate’s ability to finish any of it will say as much about the institution as about the policies themselves.