House Republicans Reintroduce Bill to Outlaw Digital Dollar CBDC

Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer announced Tuesday that he has reintroduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act first filed in late February, all in an effort to prevent the United States from issuing a digital dollar.

“If not designed to emulate cash, a government digital currency would dismantle Americans’ right to financial privacy and embolden the Administrative State,” Emmer posted on Twitter today. “I won’t let that happen.”

The legislation put forth earlier this year aimed to prohibit the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals.

A CBDC is a digital version of a state’s fiat currency. Similar to stablecoins, they are usually pegged 1:1 to a particular national currency. Such digital dollars have come under fire from across the political spectrum over their perceived risks to financial privacy, as well as fears of government overreach. 

Emmer’s re-introduced bill comes with two key differences over the original. First, it adds a new section that bans “intermediate CBDCs,” which are issued by the Fed but managed by retail banks and other financial institutions. This type of scheme is what China uses for its controversial digital yuan.

The second amendment is a removal of a requirement for the Federal Reserve to report to Congress any potential CBDC pilot programs it might be studying. According to Fox Business, Emmer explained that this move is to make the bill “more narrowly focused."

Introduced with support from 49 Republican co-sponsors, the legislative action showcases the assortment of views politicians hold when it comes to digital currencies. 

Republican Senator Ted Cruz has been adamantly pro-Bitcoin in recent times, saying he is a “big believer” in the crypto’s mining industry. Several of his congressional colleagues are also proponents of crypto-favorable legislation, with Cynthis Lummis at the forefront of the congressional skirmishes. 

Even so, not all is rosy in Washington D.C. for digital asset advocates. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and condemned the crypto industry for being “a field rife with fraud, abuse, and misconduct.”

Democrats, for the most part, have been notably anti-crypto–despite Emmer previously alleging some of his peers on the other side of the aisle support his CBDC bill, claiming they can’t admit it publicly due to optics. Ultimately, Emmer summed up his thoughts on the updated bill with a “bottom line” on Twitter.

“If not open, permissionless, and private—like cash—a CBDC is nothing more than a CCP-style surveillance tool that can be weaponized to oppress the American way of life,” Emmer suggested.