A group of American congressmembers wants to permanently block the issuance of a central bank digital currency, calling it “inherently un-American.”
A group of 29 members of the United States Congress sent a formal letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, urging that any ban on the issuance of a U.S. CBDC be made permanent. The letter was led by Congressman Michael Cloud.
“We write to express the urgent need to permanently prohibit a Central Bank Digital Currency in the United States,” the letter states. The lawmakers justified their request by arguing that a CBDC “would expose Americans to unconstitutional financial surveillance and grant the Federal Reserve, an unelected body, unprecedented power over Americans’ finances, violating their civil liberties and financial freedom.”
The legislative context behind the letter concerns a proposed amendment to the Federal Reserve Act, included in the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) already passed by the House, which would prohibit the U.S. central bank from issuing a CBDC until 2031. The signatories, however, believe this temporary freeze falls short: “A CBDC ban must be permanent,” the letter explicitly states.
The congressmembers argue that the amendment contains a “watered-down” version of the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919), introduced by Congressman Tom Emmer in June 2025 and passed by the House on July 17 of that same year, but still awaiting final Senate approval. Among the key concerns raised is the fact that the amended text does not prohibit the Federal Reserve from researching a CBDC: “The strong language of H.R. 1919 must be restored,” the letter reads.
A second relevant legislative instrument also exists: the No CBDC Act (S. 464), introduced by Senator Mike Lee in February 2025, which would aim to prohibit both the Federal Reserve and the Treasury from issuing a CBDC. This measure, however, has also stalled in Congress. “A CBDC is inherently un-American and a looming issue that we must put to rest before it is too late,” the letter concludes.
