Privacy hawks rail against Senate FISA proposal with 3-year CBDC ban

Privacy-minded conservatives in the House are pushing back against a Senate proposal to pair a temporary ban on the creation of central bank digital currency (CBDC) with a long-term extension of the federal government’s warrantless spying powers.

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are circulating a bill in the upper chamber that would extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for three years ahead of its June 12 expiration, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. Section 702 allows the government to spy on foreigners abroad without a judicial warrant.

But the bill would only prohibit the Federal Reserve from creating or issuing CBDCs for three years, a provision that quickly drew criticism from hardline conservatives who have long pushed for a permanent CBDC ban and signaled the legislation would be dead on arrival in the lower chamber.

“It’s a nonstarter,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the........

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