GOP senator seeks to block controversial proposed bank account monitoring

GOP Sen. Tim Scott on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at blocking controversial proposed bank account monitoring.

In the wake of a controversial proposal by the Treasury Department and Senate Democrats to direct collection of additional data on Americans' bank accounts, Senate Republicans -- led by South Carolina’s Tim Scott -- introduced a bill Thursday to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from implementing any such policy change.

"The Democrats’ plan to allow the IRS to spy on the bank accounts of nearly every person in this country, even those below the poverty line, should be deeply concerning to anyone who values privacy and economic inclusion," Scott said in a statement provided exclusively to ABC News.

The Biden administration on Tuesday backed down on a controversial proposal that would have directed the IRS to collect additional data on every bank account that sees more than $600 in annual transactions, after widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers and banking industry representatives, who said the tax enforcement strategy represented a breach of privacy by the federal government.

Instead, the administration and Senate Democrats are proposing to raise the threshold to accounts with more than $10,000 in annual transactions, and any income received through a paycheck from which federal taxes are automatically deducted will not be subject to the reporting. Recipients of federal benefits like unemployment and Social Security would also be exempt.