The Committee will mark up two bills about a potential digital dollar on Sep. 20. Markups are sessions in which lawmakers discuss the details of a bill. It is a crucial step before a legislation moves to the House floor.

One of the bills is the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act, or H.R. 3712, that prohibits the Federal Reserve from initiating pilot programs to test CBDCs without approval from Congress.​​ The legislation was introduced by Representative Alex Mooney back in May.

The House of Representatives recently introduced the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act to close the USD CBDC pilot program prohibiting the Fed from further pursuing it. Specifically, this bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from establishing, carrying out, or approving a program intended to test the practicability of issuing a CBDC, claiming it “would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with an authorizing law.” However, the Federal Reserve of San Francisco has sought to fill technical positions for a CBDC project over the past few months, indicating that the digital dollar remains on the table.

Why is there such a big discontent in the U.S. about even discussing a possibility of a CBDC – whereas more and more countries elsewhere look keen to join the club?

On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Fed in person of its Governor Michelle W. Bowman in an article entitled “Considerations for a Central Bank Digital Currency” wrote:

“There are significant risks in adopting a CBDC that cannibalizes rather than complements the U.S. banking system. The U.S. banking system is a mature, well-functioning, effective and efficient system. Banks provide consumers access to credit and other banking and payments services”.