POWER GRAB: ACLJ Launches Petition to STOP Biden's IRS From Spying On You

We’ve told you how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is trying to spy on your bank account. In the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that is being debated in Congress right now, it includes the IRS being able to investigate your bank transactions if you transact (spend and receive) more than $10,000, cumulatively, over the course of a year. In this bill, the IRS would receive $80 billion and 87,000 new IRS agents to be able to target virtually every single American. 

In true Washington, D.C., fashion, politicians and the media are trying to distract the public with certain aspects of the bill, but not highlighting what exactly this would mean for the American people. And while they are debating the reconciliation bill, the Voting Rights Act is also on the verge of landing on the Senate floor. All of these bills are in the works, and all are very dangerous for the American people. ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett gave us an update on these bills in Congress:

The reconciliation bill is this giant, up to $3.5 trillion, spending bill, and the IRS snooping provision would be in there. I actually think they are getting a little bit closer to getting that to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a debate. A lot of news headlines are covering just that top line spending dollar figure. Not enough people are focusing on the substance of the bill, including this snooping provision. The deadline that Speaker Pelosi has set for that is October 31st . . . . it could go past that. . . . We saw quite a bit of development on the voting rights bill. . . . The President is saying he would be open to ending the filibuster for that legislation. There was another test vote on that voting rights bill just this Wednesday. . . . Here’s the significant development – Joe Manchin voted for cloture. He voted to move to that bill. So, it is the Lois Lerner rule that is front and center right now.

The Lois Lerner rule was established after we beat the IRS in court and ensured they could no longer target conservative nonprofit groups. ACLJ Director of Policy Harry Hutchison discussed the weaponization of the IRS in his new article and further explained the ACLJ’s experience with IRS intrusion:

The ACLJ has had experience with IRS intrusion. Basically, the IRS – notwithstanding the consent decree, the Lerner rule consent decree, that was signed by the IRS – the IRS has gone back to its old tricks, even without the passage of this law. So, imagine how the IRS would be empowered to scrutinize virtually every single transaction that it simply does not like. It would look at the political focus of an organization. It would look at the religious focus of the organization. Keep in mind, recently the IRS declared that Bible reading or an organization that supported Bible reading was indeed a Republican organization. . . . This is nonsense and it’s nonsense on stilts.

The Biden IRS has already proven to target organizations based on political and religious affiliations. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security Ric Grenell has a new article about the Biden Administration’s mishandling of Russia. As former Acting Director of National Intelligence, Ric has experience dealing with foreign policy and institutions like the IRS. He explained how un-American this power grab attempt by the IRS is:

A lot of people in America make more than $10,000 a year. If we are going to suddenly have the IRS having access to your spending habits, I think it is a disaster and very un-American if you think about it. We are supposed to be the country that values individual liberty. And this is a direct assault on individuals’ liberties.

ACLJ Chief Counsel, and my dad, Jay Sekulow, summed it up best in his testimony in front of Members of the House Ways and Means Committee:

I said in 2015 and, unfortunately, I am going to have to repeat it again today. Despite the fact that we have a consent decree entered into federal court dealing with the IRS targeting conservative groups, Tea Party groups, and pro-life groups, I believe the IRS is institutionally incapable of self-correcting.

The IRS is absolutely incapable of self-correcting. It’s time someone does it for them, AGAIN. Over 200 Members of Congress have opposed the unconstitutional expansion of IRS power over our bank accounts in a letter that was sent to Secretary Yellen. We are taking action as well. We’ve resoundingly defeated the IRS before; we can do it again. We’ve already testified before Members of the House Ways and Means Committee against this bill and filed a FOIA lawsuit against the IRS earlier this year. And we are prepared to go to court again to stop this new bill if necessary.

The Biden Administration wants control over every aspect of our lives. It has weaponized the IRS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to try to further its agenda. In fact, in another overreach, President Biden’s DOJ tried to get the Texas Heartbeat bill, that bans abortions after a heartbeat is detected or at the six-week mark, blocked by suing Texas. This law has been rapidly moving through the judicial system.

However, the Supreme Court decided today that it would NOT block this bill as it considers the case and that it will hear oral arguments on November 1st to determine answers to questions like whether the federal government has the ability to bring this kind of action against a state and challenge the civil remedy in and of itself. And they are allowing the Texas abortion law to stand for now and agreed to expedited review. We will be taking action immediately and are filing a brief in the Supreme Court on this case next week. Join our brief by signing onto our petition here.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the IRS snooping on your bank account and the status of the Texas Heartbeat bill. 

Watch the full broadcast below.