Democrats called Republican bill against CBDC “insanely stupid”

Prohibition bill introduced by Republicans Fed distribute CBDC to individuals has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats. The Block reports this.

Introducing the document to the House Financial Services Committee, one of its authors, Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, said programmable money would allow the government to track and limit citizens’ transactions.

“This is not only alarming, it is completely un-American,” he said.

However, this position did not meet with support among Democrats. In particular, California lawmaker Maxine Waters called it “anti-innovation.”

“The Republican bill would stifle all relevant research and prevent us from moving forward, not to mention the prospect of the dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency and U.S. citizens losing faster, cheaper and easier payments,” Waters said.

According to the Atlantic Council, 130 countries are now developing their own CBDCs, accounting for 98% of gross domestic product. Given these indicators, passage of the Republican bill would “take the United States out of the game,” said Massachusetts Democrat Stephen Lynch.

“With all due respect, this bill is an act of insane stupidity,” he added.

Waters and Lynch introduced two amendments, but they did not receive a majority vote. The bill is now sent to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

On the same day, another document related to CBDC was considered, which obliges the Federal Reserve to obtain Congressional approval before issuing a digital currency. This bipartisan bill was authored by Massachusetts Democrat Jake Auchincloss and Arkansas Republican French Hill.

Let us recall that in January 2022, the Federal Reserve presented a report on the results of its study of CBDC. The regulator noted that the emergence of a special digital form will allow the US dollar to maintain its status as a world reserve currency.

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