Second crypto procedural vote stuck in limbo as House lawmakers reportedly hit snag over CBDCs

A procedural vote that would clear the way for voting on major cryptocurrency legislation this week is now stuck in limbo. 

Key lawmakers are meeting to discuss next steps, according to reporting from Punchbowl News and Semafor as a vote remains open on the House floor. 

This comes just hours after the House voted in the first round of procedural votes to move forward on a set of crypto-specific legislation. This marks the second time that the crypto bills have been stalled after lawmakers voted against moving forward with them on Tuesday. Republicans hope to pass all three bills out of the House during "Crypto Week" this week.

One of those bills is called the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (also known as the GENIUS bill), which would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins and could be slated to head to President Donald Trump's desk before the end of the week. 

Other drafts still need work in the Senate, including the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which takes a whole-of-crypto approach to creating a regulatory framework for digital assets. Lawmakers are also considering a bill to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to individuals. A CBDC is a digital form of fiat money, directly issued and regulated by the central bank of a country.

That is now all seemingly up in the air as some Republicans are taking issue with CBDC language. 

'Total mess'

A person familiar with the matter called the situation a "total mess" and not what they had expected during "Crypto Week," in a message to The Block. There is still the possibility that Trump could push for GENIUS to be on his desk by the end of the week, but lawmakers like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Chip Roy are adamant about getting anti-CBDC language in, they said. 

Conservatives want CBDC language added to the crypto market structure language, according to reporting from Punchbowl News' Brendan Pedersen. CBDC provisions have been a sticking point over the past day. During Tuesday's failed vote, twelve Republicans voted no, including Reps. Greene and Roy as well as Michael Cloud and Anna Paulina Luna, among others, according to reporting from The Hill.

Earlier in the day, Greene said she would not vote for moving forward with the bills, signaling concerns over CBDC bans, but then voted yes for the first procedural vote on Wednesday. 

The Federal Reserve has been exploring the possibility of issuing a CBDC and released a report in 2022 examining the pros and cons of a digital dollar, but central bank officials have thrown cold water on the idea in the past. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has also said the Fed won't issue a CBDC without congressional approval.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said key lawmakers had agreed to vote yes on the bill, but now that appears to be in flux. 

Punchbowl News' Laura Weiss reported that Rep. Roy had left the House floor around 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday after voting no, alluding to an agreement that "doesn't appear to exist anymore."