U.S. Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis says the Biden Administration’s proposals on vaccine mandates and the IRS transaction monitoring is a violation of people’s rights.

Vaccine mandates

She says she believes it is unconstitutional and so there may be a lot of opportunities to litigate that.

“What he’s done so far is he announced it,” Lummis said of Biden. “But now I think he recognizes the White House has gone too far and they’re trying to craft the executive order in a way that won’t violate the Constitution.”

She says she believes that may not be possible. She says she encourages every business owner who meet the 1oo workers or more threshold to fight it.

“It is truly unreasonable for the federal government to ask employers to force on their employees a vaccine,” Lummis said.

She says she could maybe see an exception for federal employees and acknowledges even the military is a little different. However, on an individual level she believes this is “out of bounds”.

She also says she has supported six bills to fight against this item. These including going against mandates like vaccine passports, forced vaccinations, interstate commerce, etc.

Some states have made it illegal for businesses to let go of employees over vaccination status. The Wyoming state legislature is holding a special session this week to consider some of these aspects and she hopes leaders do the same regarding the mandate.

“I think that bolsters the efforts of individuals,” Lummis said. “And further asserts the 10th Amendment rights of states.”

She says she is actually pro-vaccine as she is fully vaccinated and plans to get the booster next month. She just believes this is an individual choice and we likely need to consider natural immunity in all of this.

“I am very proud of the Wyoming legislature for taking this on,” Lummis said. “Asserting the rights of the people of Wyoming.”

IRS Transaction Monitoring

She also says this latest proposal on the IRS tracking transactions is also a problem. This is a proposal from the Biden Administration that could allow the IRS to look monitor bank accounts with more than $600 of activity. Higher numbers have also been reported as a possibility.

She serves on the Banking Committee for the Senate and had the opportunity to question Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She says she pushed back on this idea and says she doesn’t understand it.

“Whether it is $600 or $10,000 it still makes no sense,” Lummis said. “(The Biden Administration) wants an additional $85 billion to hire more IRS auditors to go after tax payers.”

She says the White House thinks it will find tax cheaters. She says it also claims that those evading taxes are only the rich.

“You’re not going to find tax cheaters by snooping on people’s individual accounts,” Lummis said. “When you think about the in-flows and out-flows of your account every year, if you’re taking in a paycheck or money from a service you provide, and paying it out.

“Over the course of a year, your transactions are going to exceed $10,000. Now there may be a few hidden billionaires in Star Valley, but this is going to affect every person in Star Valley.”

The Wyoming Senate Delegation announced in a press release she cosponsored legislation from Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina called the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act. This would prevent the agency from implementing the Biden Administration proposal.

“Through data breaches, targeting of conservative groups and other breaches of the public trust, the IRS has shown that it will seek to maximize its power whenever possible. The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress have decided to weaponize the IRS to pay for their reckless tax and spending bill,” said Lummis in the press release. “This is offensive. I joined Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), John Barrasso (R-WY) and my colleagues to protect the privacy of the people of Wyoming from this gross government overreach.”

She says she continues to fight daily for the people of Wyoming and the people of Star Valley.