Trump Delays Signing Bill Barring Fed Digital Dollar to 2030

President Donald Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and announced he will withhold his signature until Congress approves the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and photo identification for federal ballots. He posted on his 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.”

The bipartisan housing package passed the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32. Its primary measures aim to increase housing supply, reduce regulatory barriers to construction and expand access to housing finance. A final section of the bill would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, directly or through a financial intermediary until Dec. 31, 2030, and would prohibit issuing a substantially similar digital asset without congressional authorization. The provision targets central bank-issued money and does not ban privately issued stablecoins.

White House officials had promoted the signing as a delivered promise. After canceling the event, Trump declined to elevate the housing package above other priorities and, when asked about vetoing the bill, 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 enrolled bill had not been formally presented to the president when the ceremony was canceled, so the constitutional 10-day window for a signature or veto had not begun. Congressional leaders control when a completed bill is sent to the White House. Once presented, the president can sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without a signature after 10 days if Congress remains in session; if Congress adjourns in a way that prevents return, a pocket veto would be possible. A formal veto would require an override vote; the earlier roll calls exceeded the two-thirds threshold needed, but some Republican lawmakers could be reluctant to oppose the president.

Trump has taken other steps to block a U.S. CBDC. In January 2025 he issued an executive order barring federal agencies from taking steps to establish, issue or promote a CBDC. The Federal Reserve has said any move on a CBDC would require authorization from Congress and the executive branch. Industry participants note the immediate effect of the cancellation is a delay: the White House order remains in place, the Fed has no active plan to issue a CBDC, and the legislative ban would have been temporary.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who helped negotiate the package as the Senate Banking Committee’s ranking member, pledged lawmakers would press forward to enact the bill. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia criticized the cancellation, saying it left Americans without planned relief from rising rents and mortgage costs. The SAVE America Act remains stalled in the Senate, where it lacks the 60 votes generally required to overcome a filibuster.