A Republican-led initiative to obstruct the Federal Reserve from issuing a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) advanced on April 4, 2025, with the passage of the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in the House Financial Services Committee by a 27-22 vote. Sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the proposed legislation expresses concerns about financial surveillance and the potential transformation of the Federal Reserve into a retail banking entity. It prevents the Fed from issuing a digital dollar or deploying a CBDC indirectly. Emmer emphasized the dangers of a CBDC as a government-controlled financial tool that could surveil citizens' financial transactions, warning against its ability to restrict spending on politically unpopular activities. The bill reflects a growing resistance to CBDCs among privacy advocates and lawmakers who fear the erosion of financial privacy. In conjunction with the vote on the anti-CBDC bill, the Committee also approved stablecoin legislation aimed at establishing a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins, leveraging the attention drawn by the increasing concerns over digital currencies.

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