House GOP Pushes Crypto Market Structure-CBDC Ban Merger

House Republicans are pushing to ban the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by combining the anti-CBDC bill with the bipartisan crypto market structure bill.

GOP Lawmakers Push For CBDC-CLARITY Merger

GOP members in the US House of Representatives voted to retroactively combine H.R. 1919, also known as the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, with H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act of 2025.

According to a Politico report, the House was set to vote on Tuesday afternoon on a procedural vote that included a provision to combine the Anti-CBDC legislation with the CLARITY Act, both of which passed the US Congress’s lower chamber back in July.

The engrossment would include the CBDC text in the final version of the market structure bill sent to the Senate. “Provides that in the engrossment of H.R. 3633, the Clerk shall add the text of H.R. 1919, as passed by the House, as new matter at the end of H.R. 3633; conform the title of H.R. 3633 to reflect the addition of H.R. 1919, as passed by the House, to the engrossment,” the provision reads.

Notably, the anti-CBDC measure, sponsored by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, narrowly passed the House vote two months ago during the historic “Crypto Week,” which saw the passage of crucial crypto legislation, including the GENIUS Act.

At the time, GOP leaders pushed to combine the two bills after passing the vote to reconsider the bills, which initially failed to pass their procedural vote. However, Republican representatives on the Financial Services Committee opposed the measure, arguing that it could endanger the CLARITY Act’s bipartisan support.

House Agriculture Committee Republican representatives also considered that combining the two bills would have killed the CLARITY Act, arguing that it risked losing Democrats’ votes over the anti-CBDC language.

Ultimately, Republican leaders vowed to include the CBDC ban in Congress’s annual must-pass defense policy legislation and added the anti-CBDC language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Politico noted that “few Democrats support the provision, meaning it is likely to get stripped out of the bill by the Senate.”

Senate To Advance Its Crypto Market Structure Bill

In a statement, a spokesperson for House Financial Services Chair French Hill said that “passing both the CLARITY Act and Anti-CBDC bill were key priorities for members of the House.” They added that “by combining both measures and sending them to the Senate, the House continues to advance both priorities.”

According to crypto journalist Eleanor Terret, the broad response among Capitol Hill sources was that the measure “really doesn’t change anything, as the Senate is working on its own bill which includes anti-CBDC language anyway.”

Notably, multiple US lawmakers, including Senator Cynthia Lummis, expect the bill to pass before the end of the month and reach President Donald Trump’s desk by year’s end. Some senators have raised concerns about the status of the upper chamber’s version of the bill, which has not been introduced yet, while House leaders have asked the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act.

“Republican and Democratic senators continue talks on the market structure legislation, which a group of leaders from several major crypto firms is set to meet tomorrow morning with Senate Banking Committee leadership in a roundtable, according to two industry invitees,” Terret reported on Tuesday night.

She noted that the meeting follows “more than a week of industry review of the committee’s latest approach to distinguishing securities from commodities, DeFi treatment, and other key issues.”

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