Rep. Maxine Waters Maxine Moore WatersPowell, Mnuchin stress limits of current emergency lending programs Pelosi: House will stay in session until agreement is reached on coronavirus relief Omar invokes father's death from coronavirus in reaction to Woodward book MORE (D-Calif.) is planning to call in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot ZuckerbergKey Democrat opposes GOP Section 230 subpoena for Facebook, Twitter, Google Many Google staff may never return to office full time Hillicon Valley: FBI, DHS warn that foreign hackers will likely spread disinformation around election results | Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day | Trump to meet with Republican state officials on tech liability shield MORE to testify about his company's new digital currency project Libra, Waters told The Hill on Wednesday.

Waters floated the idea during a House Financial Services Committee hearing earlier in the day and confirmed it is something the Democrats on the committee actually plan to pursue.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We’ll have hearings, we’re going to continue to have investigations, we’re going to get Zuckerberg here," Waters said.

She added that her staff has not made the formal request with Facebook yet, but they plan to do so.

"The absolute public request was made today by Mr. Sherman," she said, referring to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who was the first lawmaker on the committee to call for Zuckerberg's appearance. "I’m taking that up."

David Marcus, the head of Facebook subsidiary Calibra, testified before the House Financial Services Committee – which Waters chairs – during a marathon hearing on Wednesday. He fielded tough and sometimes aggressive questions from lawmakers over how the new digital currency could be abused by criminals.

"This is an attempt to transfer enormous power from America to Facebook and a number of its allies," Sherman said. "We need Zuckerberg here."

He referred to the digital currency, known as the Libra, as "the "Zuck Buck" and "Zuckerberg’s baby."

Members of the committee questioned how and why Facebook plans to enter the financial services industry and raised doubts about the viability and safety of the company’s proposed cryptocurrency payments system.

Waters told The Hill she felt Marcus "skirted" several of the questions he was asked and warned the inquiry has only just begun.

"It’s a huge idea, it’s a global idea, [and] we don’t know what it is," Waters said. "Is it a bank? Is it a payment system? Is it a system that transmits money? We don’t know what it is so we’ve got to find out what it is."

"We have to ask a lot of questions, do a lot of investigation," she said.

The ranking member of the House Financial Service Committee, Rep. Patrick McHenry Patrick Timothy McHenryCheney battle raises questions about House GOP's future Hillicon Valley: Democrats request counterintelligence briefing | New pressure for election funding | Republicans urge retaliation against Chinese hackers House Republicans urge Trump to take action against Chinese hackers targeting coronavirus research MORE (R-N.C.), told The Hill he would not get behind the effort to haul in Zuckerberg.

"I don’t think it’s necessary," he said. "Bringing in the CEO of a company about one of their projects is not the best use of our time."

"We need to better understand the technology, and I think the following hearings should be additional technologists that are in cryptocurrency space and digital currency space," he continued. "Let’s not make this about one company with one project or one highly polarizing figure of corporate America."

"I don’t think it’s additive to the conversation, nor do I think it’s gonna bring deeper understanding about the project," he added.

Waters also said she believes the committee should bring in technologists and experts on the topic of cryptocurrency.

Facebook said it does not have a comment on whether Zuckerberg would testify.

It is within the committee's power to vote to subpoena Zuckerberg if he declined to come before Congress.