WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) joined Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and 47 other Republican colleagues in cosponsoring the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act, a bill to block the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from implementing Democrats’ plan to spy on Americans’ bank accounts.
“The IRS does not have the right to spy on Americans’ bank accounts,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This is nothing less than mass, indiscriminate government surveillance on Americans. Giving IRS bureaucrats unfettered access to Americans’ personal, private finances is a gross invasion of privacy and an abuse of power.”
“The Democrats’ plan to allow the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of nearly every person in this country, even those below the poverty line, should be deeply concerning to anyone who values privacy and economic inclusion,” said Senator Scott. “Of the more than 7 million American households that are currently unbanked, the majority are low-income, rural, and minority Americans. Implementing the Biden reporting scheme will disproportionately harm those who need greater access to our financial institutions and people living paycheck to paycheck. My colleagues and I will not stop fighting the Democrats’ wrong-headed proposal to implement more federal government intrusion into our lives.”
The bill is co-sponsored by the ranking members of the Senate finance and banking committees, Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), as well as Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Steve Daines (R-MT), John Kennedy (R-LA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Todd Young (R-IN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Braun (R-IN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mitt Romney (R-UT), James Lankford (R-OK), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Lee (R-UT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Rob Portman (R-OH).
Background
Cassidy delivered a speech on the Senate Floor condemning Democrats’ plan to direct the IRS to spy on Americans’ bank accounts.
The Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act would block the Biden administration’s plan to give the IRS access to the financial information of any American’s bank account that has annual withdrawals or deposits of greater than $10,000. Under the Biden reporting regime a family whose monthly expenses total just $833 would still be required to be reported to the IRS. Nearly every American, even those below the poverty line, would be subject to this proposed reporting regime.
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