Trump Withholds Signature on Bill Blocking Fed Digital Dollar

President Donald Trump canceled a planned signing at the U.S. Capitol and withheld his signature on the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Wednesday. The legislation includes a provision that would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, until Dec. 31, 2030.

Trump posted on his social platform: “Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.” He also told reporters, “Look, I made billions of dollars with housing. I know housing better than anybody maybe anywhere. It’s all about the interest rate. I don’t want to hurt people that own houses too.”

The signing was called off hours before a scheduled ceremony after the package cleared the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32. Those margins exceed the two-thirds threshold needed to override a presidential veto.

Lawmakers framed the ROAD to Housing Act as a package to expand housing supply, cut regulatory barriers to construction and increase access to housing finance. Its final section would stop the Fed from creating a CBDC directly or through a financial intermediary until the 2030 deadline and would bar any substantially similar digital asset without explicit congressional authorization.

A CBDC would be a digital form of central bank money available to the public, distinct from privately issued stablecoins like USDT or USDC that are issued by companies and backed by reserves. The Fed has said it would only move forward with a CBDC if authorized by Congress and the executive branch and has not decided to issue one.

Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 that directed federal agencies not to take steps to establish, issue or promote a U.S. CBDC. Supporters of the legislative ban argue codifying the restriction in law would be more durable than an executive order that a future president could reverse.

By linking his signature to the SAVE America Act, Trump placed a condition on the housing bill. The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, mandate photo identification for federal ballots and impose additional documentation rules for some absentee voters. The House approved the measure 218-213 in February, but it has stalled in the Senate where Republicans lack the 60 votes generally needed to overcome a filibuster.

Democrats criticized tying the bipartisan housing package to the separate elections bill. Sen. Elizabeth Warren pledged the housing bill would pass. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia criticized the president for stepping back from what he called one of the most important bipartisan housing measures in years and warned the delay could leave families without immediate relief from rising rents and mortgage costs. Some Republican negotiators on the package also expressed frustration.

The bill had not been formally presented to the White House when the ceremony was canceled, so the 10-day constitutional clock for signing or vetoing had not begun. Congressional leaders control presentment timing, and House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed confidence the president would sign the legislation within the available period. If presented, the president may sign, veto, allow it to become law without his signature, or attempt a pocket veto if Congress adjourns in a way that prevents a return.

For the digital asset industry, the immediate effect is a delay rather than a permanent barrier: the legislative ban in the housing bill would be temporary and expire at the end of 2030, Trump’s executive order remains in place, and the Federal Reserve has no active plan to issue a CBDC.