S.Amdt. 4249

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Cruz, is titled the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. It aims to add new prohibitions to the Federal Reserve Act regarding the activities of the Federal Reserve and Federal Reserve banks.

The amendment seeks to change the law by adding the following restrictions:

• Federal Reserve Banks are prohibited from offering products or services directly to individuals, maintaining accounts for individuals, or issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or similar digital assets, whether directly or indirectly through an intermediary.

• The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is prohibited from testing, studying, developing, creating, or implementing a CBDC or similar digital asset.

• The Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee are prohibited from using a CBDC or similar digital asset to implement monetary policy.

The amendment includes an exception for any dollar-denominated currency that is private, open, permissionless, and maintains the privacy protections of physical currency.

Finally, it expresses the sense of Congress that the Board of Governors lacks the authority to issue a CBDC or similar digital asset unless Congress grants that authority according to the Constitution.