Tom Emmer, the whip of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives, has claimed that some Democrats secretly support his anti-central digital currency.cbdc) Bill.
According to Emmer, many members of Congress are opposed to introducing a CBDC in the US, many of whom are concerned about the increased potential for surveillance that comes with it.
Emmer’s bill is known as the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, and it has already been known for some time that the bill has gained significant traction among lawmakers on the Republican side.
However, support is not limited to Republicans, Emmer said in a recent webinar hosted by the conservative law group The Federalist Society:
“I believe we also have significant support on the other side of the aisle, even though they can’t go public with that support right now because the administration isn’t necessarily friendly.”
Representative Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, further explained that if a CBDC could be designed with privacy in mind and in a way similar to cash, he would not necessarily be so opposed to it, saying that “we all Should be ready to hear what our central government is talking about.”
“But until you can do that, you shouldn’t be in the business of creating a central bank digital currency,” he said.
For now, the bill has publicly received support from 23 members of Congress, all Republicans, but Emmer’s comments indicate that number will grow to include Democrats as well.
Emer is widely known for his Pro-crypto and anti-centralization stanceAnd he has made it clear that his bill aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDCs in the US, as well as improve oversight over all CBDC-related work done at the Fed.