ALEXANDRIA, VA –  Yesterday, by a razor-thin 50-49 vote, the United States Senate voted via the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to reverse privacy protections enacted by the Trump Administration earlier this year for donors to non-profit organizations whose missions they support. 

In response, Timothy Lee, the Center for Individual Freedom’s (CFIF) Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, issued the following statement: 

"Today, we're witnessing an alarming increase in harassment of private citizens solely on the basis of their political beliefs.  For years, IRS policy facilitated that harassment by requiring non-profit organizations to surrender sensitive personal information regarding many donors through what were known as '990 Schedule B' forms.  The IRS was prohibited by law from using that private information for any substantive purpose, which raises the question of why the forms were collected at all. 

“What those forms did do, however, was open the door for IRS personnel, other government officials and even outside hackers to identify and target private citizens whose political views they found objectionable.  The IRS itself acknowledged that Schedule B information was irrelevant to its handling of tax filings, and served no substantive legal purpose. 

"In the era of persecution of private citizens for their political beliefs, collection of Schedule B forms is therefore indefensible.  The Treasury Department announced earlier this year that the IRS, for many 501(c) exempt organizations, would finally cease the filing requirement of personal identifying information about people who merely exercise their First Amendment freedoms by donating to those organizations.

"Unfortunately, despite Leader McConnell’s leadership in support of donor privacy and First Amendment freedoms, the Senate voted yesterday by the narrowest of margins to reverse the Trump Administration's welcome reform.  Accordingly, we urge the House of Representatives to act more wisely in rejecting this CRA effort if and when its opportunity to vote arrives. 

“Americans' First Amendment freedoms of speech, association and political participation should not be chilled by IRS rules that serve no legitimate purpose." 

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