– U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) today wrote Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) calling for the committee to hold a hearing on recently revealed Internal Revenue Service practices of targeting conservative groups for harassment during review of their tax documents. The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which Johanns serves as the top Republican, has oversight of the IRS budget.
“Secretary Lew testified before Congress that politics shouldn’t influence the execution of our tax laws just days before we found out that the opposite has been going on at IRS for over two years,” Johanns said. “I hope IRS is not acting as the political watchdog for this Administration, but the facts seem to suggest otherwise.“Every Member of Congress, regardless of party, owes it to the American people to demand answers about this disturbing practice – including who knew about it and when, who authorized it, and why it was allowed to continue in secrecy for so long. The first step in getting those answers is calling a hearing, which is what I’m doing today.”
News broke last week that IRS singled out political groups based on ideology for increased scrutiny going back as far as 2010. Groups with phrases and words like “tea party,” “patriot,” or calling for reduced government spending were targeted, and in some cases asked for their donor lists, which is against most IRS policies.
A full copy of the letter is available HERE or below. An audio clip of Johanns’ statement is available HERE.
May 13, 2013
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
Chairwoman
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairwoman Mikulski:
According to the Washington Post, the IRS acknowledged Friday that it flagged political groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their names for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. If these reports are accurate, it is extremely troubling that the IRS, an agency with unprecedented impact on the lives of millions of American taxpayers, is executing the laws with which they are entrusted, in a politically motivated manner.
The idea that the IRS could target taxpayers solely based on their political beliefs is unconscionable. An IRS official is now publicly apologizing for this unacceptable behavior. However, a simple apology will give Americans little solace as they worry that their government may target them for simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Now, over the weekend, we have learned that the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration will be releasing a report this week indicating that senior officials knew of this inappropriate activity as early as 2011.
Additionally, the timing of this announcement is troubling as well. Just a few days ago, both Treasury Secretary Lew and Acting IRS Commissioner Miller appeared before the Financial Services Subcommittee to testify about their fiscal year 2014 budget requests. There was absolutely no indication from either of the witnesses of the disclosure to come. In fact, in response to a question from one of our colleagues about reports of politically motivated activities at the IRS, Secretary Lew stated, “we totally agree – there should be no politics in the execution of our tax laws.” Given this assurance to our Subcommittee, I was particularly surprised by the revelations Friday.
Particularly considering Secretary Lew’s previous commitment to our Committee, I think it is important that we hold a hearing with Secretary Lew, Acting Commissioner Miller, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration George, to get out all of the facts on this matter and to learn what they intend to do to ensure that all taxpayers are free from political retaliation.
Sincerely,
Mike Johanns
Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Financial Services & General Government
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