- Representative Tom Emmer has reintroduced his anti-CBDC bill.
- President Trump signed an order banning a US CBDC in January.
- The Fed Chair is also not keen on a government-issued CBDC.
Representative Tom Emmer says CBDCs are an “Orwellian surveillance tool” that have no place in the US financial system.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Republican took fresh action on Capitol Hill to ban a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in the US.
The catch — they don’t exist. And there is no sign of activity they ever will in the US.
This didn’t stop Emmer, a longtime crypto supporter, from resubmitting a bill to prevent the creation of CBDCs without Congressional approval.
“A government-issued CBDC is nothing more than an Orwellian surveillance tool that would be used to erode the American way of life,” Emmer posted on X.
“We are not going to let it happen.”
No CBDCs
A US digital dollar hasn’t been floated — much less seriously considered — in years.
While the Federal Reserve has issued research on CBDCs, officials say their reports are intended to foster discussion, not to recommend policy outcomes.
Last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that as long as he was chair, there wouldn’t be a US-issued CBDC. Powell’s tenure ends in May 2026.
Moreover, in January President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking the creation of a CBDC, fulfilling a campaign promise.
New committee chair
Last May, Emmer’s previous anti-CBDC bill passed in a House vote split largely along partisan lines, with only three Democrats voting for it.
But it stalled in the Senate Banking Committee, which was then controlled by the Democratic majority.
After Republicans won control of the upper chamber in November, Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina and crypto-friendly lawmaker, is now heading the committee.
Moreover, a nonpartisan Congressional Crypto Caucus spearheaded by Emmer and Ritchie Torres, a Democratic Representative from New York, could also bolster the anti-CBDC bill’s chances.
Last month, Mike Lee, a Republican Senator from Utah, also reintroduced an anti-CBDC Act.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Contact him at osato@dlnews.com.