<p>You may have heard rumblings about the development of a <strong><a href="https://www.thecoinzone.com/cbdc/central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdcs">central bank digital currency (CBDC)</a></strong> - essentially a digital form of the US dollar. </p>



<p>While a CBDC has potential benefits like faster payments, some lawmakers also worry that it provides an avenue for greater government tracking of citizens&#x27; financial lives.</p>



<p>Enter the proposed CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, intended to limit privacy violations from any potential digital dollar adoption.</p>



<p>The legislation has moved through several versions since its first appearance in 2023. The most significant milestone came on May 23, 2024, when the House passed <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-118hr5403eh" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-118hr5403eh">H.R. 5403, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act</a>, sponsored by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. </p>



<p>That bill was engrossed in the House but did not clear the Senate. A revised version, H.R. 1919, emerged in 2025. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy supporting it in July 2025. The Senate remains the obstacle.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">Current Legislative Status</h2>



<p>Here is where things stand as of mid-2025.</p>



<p>H.R. 5403 passed the full House on May 23, 2024, during the 118th Congress. It was engrossed in the House but never taken up by the Senate, so it did not become law. A new version, H.R. 1919, was introduced in the 119th Congress. The House Financial Services Committee released a section-by-section summary in July 2025. The White House followed with a Statement of Administration Policy expressing support for the bill&#x27;s privacy-preserving goals.</p>



<p>The Senate remains the primary barrier. To get around that, House Republicans explored attaching anti-CBDC language to the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass annual defense bill. That strategy reflects a recognition that standalone passage through the Senate is difficult.</p>



<p>The Congressional Budget Office published a nonpartisan cost analysis of H.R. 5403. The CBO found that prohibiting the Treasury from directing the Federal Reserve to issue a CBDC would have negligible direct budgetary effects, since no CBDC program currently exists to defund.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Legislative Timeline</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>2023: Senate bill introduced by Senators Lummis, Braun, and Toomey.</li>



<li>2024 (May 23): House passes H.R. 5403. Bill engrossed in House. Senate takes no action.</li>



<li>2024: CBO publishes nonpartisan analysis of H.R. 5403.</li>



<li>2025 (July): House Financial Services Committee releases section-by-section summary of H.R. 1919.</li>



<li>2025 (July): White House issues Statement of Administration Policy supporting H.R. 1919.</li>



<li>2025: House Republicans pursue NDAA attachment strategy as alternative path to enactment.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">H.R. 5403 vs. H.R. 1919: What Changed?</h2>



<p>Two bills carry the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act name. They are not identical. Here is a direct comparison.</p>





<p style="margin:0 0 16px 0;font-size:16px">
👉 <strong>Quick takeaway:</strong> Both bills share the same core prohibition on the Fed issuing a retail CBDC directly to individuals. The difference is momentum. H.R. 5403 cleared the House but stalled in the Senate. H.R. 1919 carries White House backing and is being explored as an NDAA attachment, which is a materially stronger path to passage.
</p>
<div style="overflow-x:auto;margin:0 0 24px 0">
  <table style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5;min-width:750px;border:1px solid #e5e7eb"><thead><tr style="background-color:#f8fafc;text-align:left"><th style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">Feature</th><th style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">H.R. 5403 (2024)</th><th style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">H.R. 1919 (2025)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb"><strong>Congress</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">118th</td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">119th</td></tr><tr style="background-color:#fcfcfd"><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb"><strong>Chamber Action</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🟢 Passed House, May 2024</span><br/>
          <span style="color:#dc2626;font-weight:600">🔴 Died in Senate</span>
        </td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="color:#d97706;font-weight:600">⚠️ Committee stage</span><br/>
          <span style="font-size:14px;color:#6b7280">White House SAP issued July 2025</span>
        </td></tr><tr><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb"><strong>Core Prohibition</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">Bans Fed from issuing general-purpose CBDC directly to individuals</td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          Same core prohibition<br/>
          <span style="font-size:14px;color:#6b7280">Updated framework for privacy-preserving digital payments</span>
        </td></tr><tr style="background-color:#fcfcfd"><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb"><strong>White House Position</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="font-size:14px;color:#6b7280">Not applicable; different administration cycle</span>
        </td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🟢 Statement of Administration Policy issued in support</span><br/>
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🏆 Only version with executive backing</span>
        </td></tr><tr><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb"><strong>NDAA Attachment</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="color:#d97706;font-weight:600">⚠️ Not pursued</span>
        </td><td style="padding:14px 16px;border-bottom:1px solid #e5e7eb">
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🟢 Actively explored as Senate path</span><br/>
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🏆 Strongest route to passage</span>
        </td></tr><tr style="background-color:#fcfcfd"><td style="padding:14px 16px"><strong>CBO Analysis</strong></td><td style="padding:14px 16px">
          <span style="color:#15803d;font-weight:600">🟢 Published 2024; negligible budget impact</span>
        </td><td style="padding:14px 16px">
          <span style="color:#d97706;font-weight:600">⚠️ Pending or incorporated from prior analysis</span>
        </td></tr></tbody></table>
</div>




<p>The core privacy protections are consistent across both versions. The difference is political context. H.R. 1919 has executive branch support and a more active Senate strategy, which makes it the more viable path to enactment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">What The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act Proposes</h2>



<p>The overarching intent behind the <strong>Anti-Surveillance State Act</strong> is to ensure that the development of a digital dollar does not also open new gateways for the government to conduct mass financial surveillance on citizens. Afterall, a natively digital currency could enable tracking of every transaction on the ledger in an unprecedented way.</p>



<p>What the bill actually prohibits, drawn from the official bill text and the House Financial Services Committee section-by-section summary:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Banning the Federal Reserve from issuing any general-purpose CBDC directly to individuals. No Fed account for your digital dollars.</li>



<li>Prohibiting indirect issuance through intermediaries. A third-party bank cannot hand you a CBDC on the Fed&#x27;s behalf as a workaround.</li>



<li>Barring the Federal Reserve from using CBDC mechanisms to implement monetary policy. This closes the door on a scenario where the Fed programs your money to expire or restricts spending categories.</li>



<li>Requiring explicit Congressional authorization before any CBDC can be issued. The Fed cannot move unilaterally. Congress must vote first.</li>



<li>Preserving space for permissionless, private dollar-backed digital currencies. Stablecoins and similar instruments that match the privacy level of physical cash are explicitly not targeted.</li>
</ul>



<p>The CBO reviewed H.R. 5403 and found the prohibition would carry negligible direct budget costs. That makes sense: no CBDC infrastructure exists yet to defund.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">What Could a CBDC Actually Track?</h2>



<p>This is the question the bill&#x27;s sponsors want you to sit with.</p>



<p>A physical $20 bill leaves no digital record. You hand it over, the transaction disappears. A CBDC issued by the Federal Reserve would, by its technical nature, create a ledger entry for every transaction. That ledger would exist on infrastructure the government controls.</p>



<p>Consider what a complete transaction record reveals over 12 months: which doctors you visit, which religious organizations receive your donations, which political campaigns you fund, which medications you buy, and which news outlets you pay to read. None of that requires a warrant under current CBDC proposals. It is simply a byproduct of the system&#x27;s design.</p>



<p>Bill sponsors point to three specific risks:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Targeted monetary policy</strong>. A programmable CBDC could theoretically restrict spending in certain categories or cause funds to expire, giving the Federal Reserve a tool it does not currently possess.</li>



<li><strong>Surveillance without a warrant</strong>. Transaction data sitting on a government-linked ledger is accessible to agencies in ways that cash never was.</li>



<li><strong>Financial exclusion</strong>. A system requiring digital identity to access money could cut off citizens who lack documentation or choose to opt out.</li>
</ol>



<p>The bill&#x27;s answer to all three is the same: prohibit the Fed from issuing the instrument in the first place.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">Why Financial Privacy Matters</h2>



<p>Financial privacy is not a technical preference. It is what separates a government that serves citizens from one that monitors them.</p>



<p>Every transaction record is a data point. Stack 12 months of them and you have a detailed map of someone&#x27;s medical history, religious practice, political giving, and personal relationships. Physical cash leaves none of that behind. A government-issued digital currency, by design, leaves all of it.</p>



<p>This is the core concern driving the bill. The risk is not hypothetical. Governments with access to transaction-level financial data have used it to target dissidents, freeze accounts of political opponents, and build profiles of minority communities. The bill&#x27;s sponsors argue that preventing the infrastructure from existing is the only reliable safeguard, because privacy regulations added after the fact have a poor track record of holding.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">Can It Pass? The Political Reality</h2>



<p>The House has already answered its side of the question. H.R. 5403 passed in May 2024. The Senate has not.</p>



<p>That gap is the entire problem. Senate Democrats have been skeptical of a blanket CBDC prohibition, arguing it forecloses options before a real proposal even exists. Senate Republicans broadly support the ban but lack the votes to force a standalone floor vote.</p>



<p>The NDAA strategy is the current workaround. Attaching anti-CBDC language to the annual defense authorization bill forces senators to vote against a CBDC ban as part of a must-pass package, a much harder political position. Whether that attachment survives conference negotiations is the open question as of mid-2025.</p>



<p>The White House position adds weight. A Statement of Administration Policy supporting H.R. 1919 signals that a presidential signature is available if the bill reaches the Oval Office. That is not nothing. It changes the Senate calculus for members from swing states who want to avoid a veto fight.</p>



<p>The honest assessment: the bill has a real but narrow path. Senate passage, whether standalone or through the NDAA, remains the single blocking variable.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">What You Can Do Right Now</h2>



<p>If you support or oppose this legislation, here are the concrete steps available to you today.</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Find your senators</strong>. The House has voted. The Senate has not. Your two senators are the relevant decision-makers. Use the official Senate contact directory at senate.gov to find their offices.</li>



<li><strong>Read the bill text</strong>. The full engrossed text of H.R. 5403 is publicly available via GovInfo. The section-by-section summary from the House Financial Services Committee is a faster read.</li>



<li><strong>Track the NDAA</strong>. If the anti-CBDC language gets attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, that is the most likely path to a Senate vote. Track the NDAA&#x27;s progress on congress.gov.</li>



<li><strong>Follow the White House SAP</strong>. The Statement of Administration Policy for H.R. 1919 signals executive branch priorities. If the bill&#x27;s language changes significantly, the SAP will be updated.</li>
</ol>



<p>This bill has cleared one chamber. Whether it clears the second depends almost entirely on Senate pressure and the NDAA negotiation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading tablecontent">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What is the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act?</h5>



<p>It is a U.S. federal bill that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to individuals, either directly or through intermediaries, without explicit Congressional authorization.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Has the bill passed?</h5>



<p>Partially. H.R. 5403 passed the House on May 23, 2024, but the Senate did not act on it. An updated version, H.R. 1919, is active in the 119th Congress and received White House support in July 2025. Neither version has become law.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What is the difference between H.R. 5403 and H.R. 1919?</h5>



<p>H.R. 5403 was the 118th Congress version that passed the House. H.R. 1919 is the 119th Congress update. Both share the core prohibition on Fed-issued CBDCs. H.R. 1919 has the advantage of White House support and an active NDAA attachment strategy.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What did the CBO say about the bill?</h5>



<p>The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60275" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60275">Congressional Budget Office</a> found that prohibiting the Treasury from directing the Federal Reserve to issue a CBDC would have negligible direct budgetary effects. No CBDC program exists to defund.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Who sponsored the bill?</h5>



<p>House Majority Whip Tom Emmer led the House effort. Senators Cynthia Lummis, Mike Braun, and Pat Toomey introduced the original Senate version in 2023.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Does the bill affect stablecoins or private digital currencies?</h5>



<p>No. The bill explicitly preserves space for permissionless, private dollar-backed digital currencies that operate at the privacy level of physical cash. It targets only government-issued CBDCs.</p>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What is the NDAA strategy?</h5>



<p>House Republicans have explored attaching anti-CBDC provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass annual defense bill, as a way to force Senate action without a standalone floor vote.</p>

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The House passed it in 2024. The Senate did not. Learn what the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act actually prohibits, how H.R. 5403 and H.R. 1919 differ, and what's next.