A fight over central bank digital currencies has opened inside Congress after the Senate included a temporary CBDC ban in a housing bill. The disputed language would expire on December 31, 2030, and House lawmakers are already signaling that they do not want the restriction to end on that date.
According to reporting from Eleanor Terrett, several House members have made clear they oppose the sunset clause. The dispute sharpened after Ted Cruz introduced an amendment to strike the expiration provision and turn the CBDC prohibition into a permanent one.
Cruz amendment targets sunset language in Senate text
Cruz filed the proposal as SA 4318 to the Senate’s 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The amendment goes after language in amendment No. 4308, which came from Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren.
His proposal would remove lines 15 and 16 on page 302, the section that sets the ban to expire at the end of 2030. Terrett reported that Cruz plans to push for a vote on the amendment next week. That move pulls a digital dollar policy dispute into legislation that is otherwise centered on housing reform.
House lawmakers reject a temporary CBDC prohibition
Resistance from the House came quickly after the Senate language surfaced. Lawmakers there have indicated they will not accept a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies. Their concern is straightforward: if the restriction lapses, a future U.S. digital dollar could still move ahead once the deadline passes.
Anna Paulina Luna also warned supporters that negotiations over the provision could become heated. She argued that a temporary ban would leave room for the policy to expire in later years, and she urged lawmakers to back a permanent restriction on a possible digital dollar.
Terrett said the clash could produce a contentious legislative process. For now, the CBDC question is no longer sitting outside the bill. It is part of the congressional bargaining around the measure itself.
Housing package keeps moving as CBDC issue gains attention
The broader bill remains focused on housing supply. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is designed to address construction barriers across the United States through zoning reforms, incentives for homebuilding, and faster permitting procedures.
It also directs federal agencies to coordinate grant review timelines and simplify funding notices. Other amendments would widen the package, including one that requires federal housing grant recipients to report on local land-use policies and another that encourages the President to declare a national housing emergency while expanding domestic construction material production.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on Cruz’s CBDC amendment as the housing legislation continues through Congress. Whether the ban remains temporary or becomes permanent is now one of the clearest fault lines in the debate.