(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is proposing that congress issue fines to the Internal Revenue Service if the agency oversteps its plan to hire more auditors. “Follow up on what the Democrats said they were going to use this money for, that they’re only going to use this money against people that make $400,000 and corporations,” Grassley says. “We don’t believe that.”

This summer, President Biden approved the plan congressional Democrats passed that will give the I-R-S 80 billion dollars over the next 10 years to modernize agency computers and hire 87-thousand auditors.  “They did this without providing any oversight mechanisms to make sure that money is wisely spent,” Grassley says. Grassley is proposing that the I-R-S submit plans to congress on how it intends to spend each year’s allotment. If the agency doesn’t follow its plan, Grassley says the agency should forfeit some of its budget, as a fine.

Other Republicans have proposed shifting the spending from the I-R-S to the Border Patrol. It’s unlikely President Biden would rescind the plan to hire more auditors to go after wealthy Americans who have failed to pay the taxes they owe. The I-R-S estimates about 15 percent of federal taxes owed are not paid.