The U.S. House of Representatives further advanced legislation led by U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly to individuals, or indirectly through intermediaries, preventing the Fed from becoming a retail bank with access to individual citizens’ financial data.
“House Republicans and President Trump recognize the threat a CBDC poses in the United States,” Rep. Emmer said. “CBDCs stand against everything we love in this country — privacy, freedom, and free market competition. We must never allow this weaponized surveillance tool to be adopted here.”
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, H.R. 1919, which Rep. Emmer sponsored in March 2025 and which currently has 135 Republican cosponsors, was first passed by the House in July 2025. The bill now has been attached to the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act, S. 1318, and awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.
According to a bill summary provided by Rep. Emmer’s staff, a CBDC is a digital form of sovereign currency that is designed and issued by a central government and transacts on a digital ledger that is controlled by that government.
Fundamentally, a CBDC is government-controlled, programmable money that if developed without the privacy protections of cash, could give the federal government an unprecedented ability to surveil Americans’ financial transactions and suppress politically unpopular activity, states the summary.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would make clear that the Fed cannot use any CBDC to implement monetary policy, preventing it from using the technology to manipulate the American economy.
The bill also would require that Congress pass legislation authorizing any government-created digital dollar, safeguarding private-sector innovation and any future development of digital cash, the summary says.
“The House has done its job; it’s time for the Senate to pass our CBDC ban,” said Rep. Emmer.
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