Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) railed against House leadership Tuesday for allegedly blocking efforts to amend the GENIUS Act, a crypto-friendly bill that would establish a regulatory framework for digital currencies.
Taken up for a procedural vote in the House on Tuesday, the GENIUS Act failed to advance in a vote of 196-222, with critics like Greene accosting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for apparently not accepting amendments to the bill. Her largest grievance, Greene said, was the omission of a ban on the federal government developing a Central Bank Digital Currency, something President Donald Trump banned in January via executive order.
“The Senate left that out, and they sent this over to the House and Speaker Johnson didn’t allow us to do amendments, to amend the bill to ban CBDC,” Greene told members of the press Tuesday.
“That’s a House issue. I fully support the president, I will vote for the GENIUS Act when they ban the Central Bank Digital Currency. We need to get it right, it shouldn’t be run through.”
Greene and other Trump allies have long opposed the establishment of a central bank digital currency out of fear of government overreach, with opposition to the federal government dipping its toes in cryptocurrency becoming a rallying cry for the MAGA faithful.
While she went on to pledge support for the bill when it eventually returns for a vote, Greene urged House leadership to allow a ban on establishing such a currency to move forward, and warned of the potential repercussions should her and her allies’ efforts be stonewalled.
“Americans do not want a government-controlled Central Bank Digital Currency,” Greene wrote Tuesday in a social media post on X.
“Republicans have a duty to ban CBDC. President Trump included a ban on CBDC in his January 23rd executive order and Congress must also include the ban on CBDC in the GENIUS Act.”