Grocery bills are still high. Gas prices are still up there. And inflation, though cooling, keeps eating away at your paycheck. While the Trump administration is working to undo the economic damage of the Biden years, there’s one key fight happening right now in Congress that could shape the future of the U.S. dollar and your purchasing power.
It’s called the GENIUS Act. It is strongly supported by the Trump administration, and if Congress passes it this week, it could help keep the U.S. dollar strong in the digital age, beat back rising inflation, and stop Communist China from gaining the upper hand in global finance.
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The GENIUS Act will produce safe, legal, digital dollars — called stablecoins — that are tied 1:1 to the real U.S. dollar. It will keep America’s money strong and competitive with the currencies of adversarial nations such as China.
Right now, trillions of dollars flow across borders every day. More and more of that is happening digitally. If America doesn’t lead in this space, someone else will, and we might not like the results.
China understands this. That’s why its own stablecoin law takes effect in August. If America sits back and does nothing, it will invite a future where the U.S. dollar loses ground and the U.S. loses control over its economic destiny.
If the dollar loses its edge, everyday Americans will be the first to suffer. When the world stops using the dollar as the standard for trade and finance, it risks weakening America’s purchasing power, fueling inflation, and raising the price of just about everything.
The GENIUS Act, introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), is Congress’ response to this threat. It doesn’t hand the reins to Washington bureaucrats or the Federal Reserve. Instead, it encourages private companies, backed by American money and American law, to produce these much-needed digital assets. This is exactly the kind of solution conservatives should rally behind. It keeps the government from picking winners and losers while still protecting consumers by requiring stablecoins to be fully backed.
The Trump administration has been clear that bill needs to pass clean — that, with China hot on our tail, Congress doesn’t have time to play political games with this legislation. But some members are still trying to hold up the bill. Their wide-ranging amendments, which bizarrely include the controversial topics of capping credit card interest rates and altering credit card swipe fees, despite those policies having nothing to do with the intent or spirit of the legislation, risk imploding the whole bill. Just ask Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who said he will try to “kill the bill” if the latter is attached because, in his view, “the value out of the stablecoin components would not outweigh the damage done.”
As with most legislation today in this hyper-partisan political climate, every vote will count, so the Trump administration is right: Congress should consider this bill without distractions that could prevent it from taking effect before China’s stablecoin legislation.
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This is about much more than technology. It’s about protecting the value of your paycheck, the cost of your mortgage, and the price of your groceries. A strong dollar means stronger buying power. It means cheaper imports, lower interest rates, and more influence abroad.
The GENIUS Act is the right bill at the right time. Congress needs to pass it fast.
Steve Cortes is president of the League of American Workers and senior political adviser to Catholic Vote. He is a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance and a former Fox News commentator.