House Moves to Ban Digital Currency Tool With Potential for Authoritarian Abuse

The House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on a digital currency bill that its supporters say could prevent potential future abuse of Americans’ financial freedom.

The legislation, introduced by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., is called the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act.

“By passing the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, we’re not only codifying another one of President [Donald] Trump’s executive orders, we’re also protecting Americans’ privacy rights and our way of life,” Emmer told The Daily Signal.

Emmer’s reference was to the executive order “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology” signed by the president on Jan. 23. That order banned the establishment or circulation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the U.S.—but it could be repealed by a future president. 

“A central bank digital currency is an un-American surveillance tool, one of which is already used by the [Chinese Communist Party] to spy on its people, and has no place in our nation,” the Minnesota congressman said.

The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act would combat the implementation of CBDCs by prohibiting a Federal Reserve bank from issuing a digital currency, such as a digital dollar. It would also prevent the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from using the currency to implement monetary policy.

Digital currencies controlled by the government would potentially give bureaucrats an unprecedented level of control over Americans by putting an expiration date on their money, allowing the government to swiftly fine or punish them, or even expanding the government’s ability to freeze their bank accounts. 

Republicans have warned in particular of the creation of a central bank digital currency system, which could be weaponized by a future despotic government. 

“A Central Bank Digital Currency is the real-life Death Star. The government should never be allowed to design, build, or issue a CBDC,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, posted on the social media platform X last month. 

For that reason, the Emmer bill also bans in general the testing or studying of a central bank digital currency by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

Heritage Action for America, an independent partner of The Heritage Foundation, has been supportive of a prior iteration of the bill that was passed by the House during the 118th Congress in 2024. It announced support for the new version of the bill.

“CBDCs are another governmental-control tactic that would expand federal power and spike U.S. inflation. Heritage Action has consistently opposed CBDCs, as these assets threaten the privacy and civil liberties of American citizens,” Steve Chartan, Heritage Action vice president for government relations, said in a statement released Tuesday.

“This legislation safeguards Americans from potential government surveillance, control, and political intimidation. Our Sentinels have worked tirelessly to oppose CBDCs and push back against outright federal coercion,” Chartan continued.

The bill has to pass the House again on its journey to become law, since all legislation dies if it isn’t enacted by both chambers prior to the beginning of a new Congress. 

Peter St. Onge, then a visiting fellow in economic policy at The Heritage Foundation, praised in particular a provision of the 2024 version of the bill that banned indirect financial weaponization. That provision is replicated in the new version of the bill to be voted on Tuesday. 

The bill “bans the so-called “indirect” or “intermediated” CBDC that uses banks to hide the fist of government and do to money what Big Tech censorship collusion has done to free speech. Polling says over 80% of Americans don’t want to replace the dollar with a government cryptocurrency. They want the dollar restored to the store of value it has been for generations,” St. Onge explained.

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