Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) introduced a bill Wednesday endeavoring to hand control of tax dollars over to citizens.
Named the “Spend It At Home Act,” the legislation would require the Department of the Treasury to allow taxpayers to indicate whether they would like their taxes to be used for domestic or international purposes on federal income tax forms.
Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) co-sponsored the legislation.
“I’ve heard time and time again from my constituents that they are sick and tired of paying taxes to secure Ukraine’s borders as millions of aliens are flooding across our own,” Nehls told the Daily Mail.
“Requiring two boxes on the federal income tax form asking Americans whether they would want their hard-earned dollars spent at home or abroad is a simple solution to show [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer and others waiving Ukrainian flags on the House floor that we are not doing the will of the American people,” he added.
The bill appears to be a response to the $95 billion approved for foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and others. Many Republicans fought House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) push for the legislation, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was incensed enough to call for his removal.
A common argument for Republicans unwilling to pass the aid legislation was that the money needed to be spent in the U.S. Nehls’s bill would give taxpayers control over whether their money is directed overseas. About half of federal income tax last year was from individual taxpayers, around $2.2 trillion.
“Nearly half of American taxpayers have said the federal government is sending too much money to Ukraine, but President Biden and the uniparty just defied them and sent another $61 billion anyway,” Moore told the outlet in a statement. “This legislation gives taxpayers a chance to make their voices heard on where their hard-earned money is being spent.”
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Republicans have a majority in the House but not in the Senate, making the bill unlikely to pass.
“I always put America First, and I hope the data produced by this legislation will encourage my colleagues to do the same,” Nehls said.