Trey Paul, FISM News
At least 20 House Republicans aren’t buying the claims by the Biden administration that it is hiring 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees only to target the rich.
The group, led by Colorado Representative Ken Buck, signed a pledge Wednesday informing the country they oppose what the administration is doing.
The IRS plans to hire the new employees through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, a bill President Joe Biden recently celebrated as food and rent prices continue to soar.
Democrats claim the more than $80 billion in new funding for the IRS will lead to new federal revenue, but Republicans maintain that the middle-class will be targeted and face more audits.
FISM News obtained a copy of the pledge that was announced by Congressman Buck in a news release yesterday. He’s asking House members to oppose any Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriation for the IRS until the provision adding 87,000 new agents in the Inflation Reduction Act is repealed.
“While the overall bill was a deeply misguided effort, the provision providing 87,000 new IRS agents will have an enormous negative impact on everyday Americans. The intent is clear: to unleash the agency on regular Americans’ tax returns and small businesses at a level never before seen in our history. Republicans cannot sit idly by and fund the agency responsible for this financial repression. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort,” Congressman Buck said.
Utah Congressman Burgess Owens, who also signed the pledge, posted a blistering tweet explaining why the bill is needed:
Every single Democrat voted to unleash a supersized IRS on law-abiding American families and small business owners. Proud to join @RepKenBuck in opposition to this disastrous and out-of-touch policy. https://t.co/qFoegrcF5s
— Rep. Burgess Owens (@RepBurgessOwens) September 14, 2022
In an open letter, Senator Rick Scott of Florida warned Americans not to apply for new positions with Biden’s “soon-to-be supersized” IRS because he says his party will defund them if it takes Congress later this year, something he feels confident will happen.
In part, Senator Scott wrote:
The Democrats’ plans to defund the actual police and create an IRS super-police force will not be tolerated by the American people. When Republicans retake the majority, we will immediately begin our important work on behalf of the American people to stop this and the rest of President Biden’s failed agenda. In addition to ending the reckless government spending fueling his historic inflation crisis, you can be sure that Republicans’ focus will be on cutting your taxes, not sending nearly 90,000 more IRS agents to audit and investigate working-class families and small businesses to pull even more of their hard-earned money out of their pockets.
A recent Trafalgar poll also shows most Americans don’t believe the Biden administration’s claims that the 87,000 new IRS agents being hired will target the wealthy. Based on a breakdown of the results, a plurality of voters believe that the IRS would now target middle-class Americans and small businesses (33%). Other believed that cash, tip, and app workers (3.2%), or political opponents (15.9%) will be targeted. Only 31.6%, including just 49.8% of Democrats, believe the agents will target wealthy Americans and large corporations.
The pledge has 19 original signers and is still open for members to sign.
The original signers of the pledge include Reps: Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Lance Gooden (R-Texas), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Lisa McClain (R-Mich.).