Heritage Action Issues Key Vote Supporting CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act

Press Releases · Jul 15, 2025

WASHINGTONHeritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization with 2.5 million activists nationwide, today issued a Key Vote in support of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919). This bill will prevent government-issued digital assets from restricting the financial freedom of Americans. This is Heritage Action’s fifth legislative Key Vote of the 119th Congress.

Heritage Action Vice President for Government Relations Steve Chartan announced the Key Vote and urged lawmakers to support this legislation:

“CBDCs are another governmental control tactic that would expand federal power and spike U.S. inflation. Heritage Action has consistently opposed CBDCs as these assets threaten the privacy and civil liberties of American citizens. This legislation safeguards Americans from potential government surveillance, control, and political intimidation. Our Sentinels have worked tirelessly to oppose CBDCs and push back against outright federal coercion. ”

Heritage Foundation Chief Economist and Richard Aster Fellow, in The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, E.J. Antoni, also explained the danger underlying CBDCs:

“A CBDC is the government version of a crypto currency and, like the government version of anything, it’s much worse than its private market counterparts. Central bank digital currencies give faceless bureaucrats the ultimate control over how you live your life, including all spending and investing decisions. Every single purchase—or even a donation—that you make can be approved or rejected by the federal government. It’s a level of surveillance of which Orwell could not have conceived when he wrote his dystopian novel 1984, and it would also make it even easier for the Federal Reserve to create inflation.”


By issuing a Key Vote, lawmakers are notified that their position on this amendment will affect their score on the Heritage Action Scorecard, which shows voters and activists how conservative lawmakers are by comparing their policy priorities to those of Heritage Action. The scores of lawmakers who do not vote for this legislation will be negatively impacted.

Through engagement on Capitol Hill and activation of conservative voters across the country, Heritage Action Key Votes play an important role in legislative movement.

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