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Moreover, the International Trade Administration—which “is centrally placed to craft and implement U.S. trade policy”—should counter “the malign influence of China and other U.S. adversaries” and strongly “defend against trade violations.”

In Chapter 22, William L. Walton, Stephen Moore, and David R. Burton note that under the Biden Administration, the Treasury Department has failed to achieve any of the agency’s core objectives. Under the leadership of Secretary Janet Yellen, Treasury has placed “equity” and “climate change” among its top five priorities. The next Administration must act decisively to curtail activities that fall outside of Treasury’s mandate and primary mission. Treasury must refocus on its core mission of promoting economic growth, prosperity, and economic stability. The authors add that “Treasury should make balancing the federal budget a mission-critical objective.”

The authors propose legislation to reform the tax code, writing,

Tax policy has a powerful impact on the economy. The Treasury Department should develop and promote tax reform legislation that will promote prosperity. To accomplish this, tax reform should improve incentives to work, save, and invest. This, in turn, is accomplished primarily by reducing marginal tax rates, reducing the cost of capital, and broadening the tax base to eliminate tax-induced economic distortions by eliminating special-interest tax credits, deductions, and exclusions. Tax compliance costs will decline precipitously if the tax system is substantially simplified. The Treasury Department should also promote tax competition rather than supporting an international tax cartel.

Chapter 22 includes proposals to reduce the intrusiveness and increase the accountability of the Internal Revenue Service.

The chapter also explains how the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by Treasury, should realign its priorities to meet the United States’ current foreign policy threats, especially from China. It explains how Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which manages the anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) programs, can be improved to reduce the burden on small firms and improve the effectiveness of the AML-CFT regime.

In Chapter 25, Karen Kerrigan describes the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a “sprawling, unaccountable agency” replete with “waste, fraud, and mismanagement” and guilty of “mission creep.” Moreover, its “initiatives aimed at

‘inclusivity’ are in fact creating exclusivity and stringent selectivity in deciding what types of small businesses and entities can use SBA programs.” According to Kerrigan, the Office of Advocacy “is one of the bright spots within the SBA that a conservative Administration could supercharge to dismantle extreme regulatory