Published at The National Desk.

WASHINGTON (TND) — As budget battles heat up on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are working to disarm the IRS. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is leading that charge after the IRS reported spending more than $35 million on guns, ammunition and military style equipment. They have spent over $10 million since 2020.

CEO of Open the books, Adam Andrzejewski joined The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat to discuss the issue.

“They don't need weapons. They don't need military equipment and they should not be preparing for battle. Look, the IRS is a tax collection agency and the critics like our organization and Open the Books, we say that the IRS has blurred their civil enforcement duties and that's tax collection with criminal law enforcement activity,” he said.

The IRS’s purchase of these weapons are used by their Criminal Investigation Division that has jurisdiction over federal tax crimes.

Ernst introduced the “Why Does the IRS Have Guns Act” bill that would prohibit the purchase of weapons by the IRS with taxpayer money.

“U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, she's very poor in our findings on the purchase of IRS guns, ammunition and military style equipment,” Andrzejewski said. “She's done that through legislation in the United States Senate.”