Federal Reserve vs. Congress: The Battle for Digital Currency Control in the U.S.

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee is currently taking steps to slow down the development of a currency issued by the U.S. Bank. Chairman Patrick McHenry recently announced that on September 20th the committee will be discussing two bills specifically related to the concept of a dollar. These discussions, referred to as markups will involve lawmakers and regulators fine tuning the details of the bills before they are voted upon on the House floor.

One of these bills, known as H.R. 3712 or the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act aims to limit the Federal Reserves authority in initiating trial programs for a currency without obtaining approval, from Congress. This bill was introduced by Representative Alex Mooney back in May.

While it is important to note that the Federal Reserve has not made a decision regarding issuing a dollar and acknowledges that legislative approval would be necessary if pursued there have been indications from the San Francisco Federal Reserves pursuit of technology experts for a digital currency project that this idea is still being considered.

The second bill intends to amend the Federal Reserve Act in order to prevent Federal Reserve banks from providing services to individuals. Additionally this bill seeks limitations on how a digital dollar could be utilized in areas such, as influencing policy.
According to the rule Federal Reserve banks are prohibited from offering a bank currency (CBDC) directly to individuals even if it is done through third party financial institutions.

The concept of a dollar has sparked discussions, in the United States. Prominent personalities like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Ron DeSantis have expressed concerns suggesting that a digital currency might pose risks, to both the nations system and individual financial privacy. However there are also individuals who support this idea arguing that it could help maintain the influence of the U.S. Dollar and promote adoption of cryptocurrencies.

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