Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, recently the United States has considered issuing a central bank digital currency. CBDCs are digital liabilities issued by a central bank and made available to the public. The implications for the United States dollar as the world's reserve currency, and for domestic fiscal and monetary policy, of a US CBDC are hotly debated by experts. What should not be controversial, however, is that the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and all other executive agencies cannot issue a CBDC without explicit authorization from Congress. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants that power ``to coin money'' and ``regulate the value thereof'' exclusively to Congress. Under section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed can issue ``Federal Reserve notes,'' but CBDCs are not Federal Reserve notes. The law restricts Federal Reserve notes to paper notes printed on ``plates and dies'' engraved by the Treasury Department according to a detailed process that clearly does not apply to digital money. The Federal Reserve has consistently recognized that it lacks authority to issue a CBDC without congressional authorization. The Fed published a report on CBDCs in January of 2022 and said that it would not issue a CBDC without ``clear support'' from Congress ``in the form of a specific authorizing law.'' Fed Chair Jerome Powell has personally affirmed that view on multiple occasions since that report was published.…”