In other words, no news on cloture on Wednesday night might just be no news.
In one scenario, Majority Leader John Thune files cloture on Wednesday night, gets through all of the Senate's other priorities by Friday, holds the first procedural vote on Friday night and then everyone goes back to their districts to meet their constituents and campaign for reelection.
In another, the Senate can break on Friday, Aug. 7, without taking any further steps on the Clarity Act.
In that scenario, the Senate could still return in September and take up the Clarity Act once more. The Senate will also have to deal with funding the government and other issues at that time, and there are just 14 working days when the Senate is in session in September and October. This means it would likely be difficult to get the Clarity Act through, short of Senators agreeing to push it through. It's certainly possible it can get through Clarity in that time period, however.
The legislative staffer told CoinDesk that if the outstanding issues are sorted through, the bill would easily have a chance at passage in September.
Alternatively, the Senate could extend its working session through the weekend or into next week to address outstanding issues, which may give it enough time to at least get a first procedural vote on Clarity.