Imagine opening your wallet one day and finding the government inside. That’s the fear driving the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, a bill that would stop the Federal Reserve from ever issuing a digital dollar or holding retail accounts.
Drawing the Line
The proposal, formally known as H.R. 1919, draws a bright red line around the Fed’s powers, making clear that issuing a central bank digital currency – defined in law as a dollar-denominated instrument that’s a direct liability of the Federal Reserve and broadly available to the public – is off limits.
The restrictions go further than simply banning a “digital dollar.”
They also close the door on retail Fed accounts. Under the bill, the Fed cannot provide financial services directly to citizens or maintain deposit accounts in their name.
Just as important, the legislation blocks any quiet experiments: no pilot programs, no indirect schemes through commercial banks, no testing in the back room.
If Congress ever wants such a currency, it would have to pass a new statute authorising it.
There is one carefully worded exception.
Lawmakers stressed that the prohibition should not be read to cover open, permissionless, private dollar-based systems that preserve the same kind of privacy people expect from physical cash.
In other words, the target here is not private stablecoins, but a retail currency issued and run by the Federal Reserve itself.
Why Supporters Are Pushing
For its champions, this is fundamentally a privacy fight.
Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip who authored the bill, has repeatedly warned that a retail CBDC could be turned into a surveillance tool, letting the central bank monitor when, where, and how people spend.
French Hill, who chairs the Financial Services Committee, has echoed the concern, arguing that guardrails are needed to stop the Fed from sliding into consumer banking.
The measure also has strong backing from the banking sector.
The American Bankers Association welcomed its passage in the House, warning that a government-issued digital currency could displace private banks and undermine the system of financial intermediation.
That mix of civil liberties rhetoric and industry self-interest has turned the bill into a focal point for opposition to what critics dismissively call “FedCoin.”
The State of Play
The House passed the Act on July 17, 2025, by a narrow margin of 219–210.
In the Senate, Ted Cruz has introduced a companion measure (S. 1124), which sits with the Banking Committee. Its fate will depend on how high digital currency ranks on the Senate’s crowded agenda before the end of the year.
For now, the message from the House is unmistakable: the Federal Reserve does not have the authority to launch a digital dollar on its own.
No wallets. No pilots. No back-door rollouts.
If America is ever to adopt a CBDC, it will happen only with Congress’s direct blessing – in parallel with broader frameworks like the CLARITY Act and the Genius Act.
Policy Pulse Takeaway
The Anti-CBDC Act is more than a symbolic gesture.
It sets a boundary that matters to every American who wonders how the future of money might look. The Fed can steer monetary policy, but it won’t be in the business of holding your paycheck or logging your purchases.
In short: your wallet stays yours, not the government’s.
