Kelly’s bill aims to keep IRS neutral

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could not be used as a political weapon against nonprofit groups under legislation introduced on July 13 by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).

“Americans should be able to donate to causes they believe in without fear of retribution from Washington bureaucrats who have a long, sad history of targeting individuals and organizations because of their political beliefs,” Rep. Kelly said. “In our democracy, it is simply un-American to hamper any individual’s right to exercise their personally held religious and political views.”

Rep. Kelly sponsored the Don’t Weaponize The IRS Act, H.R. 4622, with lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), to codify the Trump administration rule that protects groups, regardless of their political ideology or beliefs, and prevents the IRS from doxxing donors to these groups. 

According to Transparency USA, doxxing is when a donation is made to a candidate or a political action committee (PAC). Such donations are required by law to be reported to the government and made available to the public. Doxxing is when the private individuals whose names are made public after making donations get harassed. 

“Doxxing is short for dropping documents (docs or “dox”) on the internet,” according to Transparency USA, a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization. “It’s posting someone’s personal information — name, address, phone number, employer, etc. — in hopes of shaming them or even inciting an online mob to harass, intimidate, or otherwise cause harm.”

If enacted, H.R. 4622 would remove the requirement to report the names and addresses of donors in order to protect taxpayers’ First Amendment rights, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Kelly’s office.

H.R. 4622 is companion legislation to the same-named, S. 1105, which was introduced on March 30 by U.S. Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Todd Young (R-IN).