Housing Bill Banning Fed CBDC Becomes Law Without Trump

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on Friday after President Donald Trump did not sign or veto the measure within the 10-day period following delivery to the White House.

The bill passed the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32 last month.

Lawmakers described the package as a bipartisan effort to expand housing affordability by encouraging more construction and widening financing options for homebuyers.

A provision in the law bars the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. A CBDC is a digital form of a country’s fiat money that would be issued and regulated directly by the central bank.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would not sign the bill unless Congress first enacted a requirement for proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. He posted: “I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”

The Federal Reserve has studied the possibility of a CBDC and issued a 2022 report that examined potential benefits and risks. Fed officials have repeatedly said they would not move forward with a CBDC without explicit authorization from Congress.

Opposition to a Fed-issued CBDC has been raised by many Republican lawmakers, who cite concerns about privacy and government control. Debate over digital currencies also affected last year’s effort to pass a stablecoin framework called the GENIUS Act, which lost momentum after some Republicans objected to provisions they said could enable a CBDC; among those who opposed it was former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The White House received the bill without the president’s signature, and the law took effect under the constitutional rule that a bill becomes law if the president does not act within the prescribed time.