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Mississippi Treasurer David McRae joined 22 State Treasurers, Auditors, and financial officers to oppose a Biden administration proposal that empowers the IRS to monitor American bank accounts with more than $600 of deposited funds. If the proposal is enacted, the private banking activity of more than 100 million Americans could be subject to examination by the IRS.

“We do not believe the federal government should give the IRS the unprecedented and unconstitutional power to peer into law-abiding citizens’ private financial accounts,” wrote McRae and the financial officers in a letter to President Biden and Treasury Secretary Yellen. “This would be one of the largest infringements of data privacy in our nation’s history and is a direct assault on the financial disclosures of all Americans.”

The proposed IRS monitoring plan was first made in May 2021 and is included in $3.5 trillion spending bill currently being debated in the U.S. Congress.

“If passed, this will be one of the largest and most continuous data mining exercises against Americans in our history and will put a constant strain on customer privacy, data security, and overall safety of the banking system,” the financial officers’ letter continued. “Moreover, there are no guardrails in place to prevent any abuse of this information by the IRS or other government actors. We urge you to consider the negative impacts this initiative would have.”

Read the full letter.