particular the way the IRS handles applications for groups seeking tax-exempt status.
That
issue has been highly controversial since it was revealed that the IRS
applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status
just before the 2012 election. The resulting scandal forced former IRS
official Lois Lerner to leave the agency, although Lerner has so far
dodged any punishment for her role.
For example, the Justice Department just said it won’t prosecute Lerner for her decision not to testify before Congress about her actions in the targeting scandal.
GOP
leaders say the IRS needs real reform, and quickly, to ensure it
doesn’t become a political weapon for whichever party runs the executive
branch.
“The
IRS has maliciously targeted individuals and groups simply because of
their personal beliefs,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
told his colleagues on Thursday. “The current system is unfair and
America is fed up.”
Three
of the bills up next week deal with the targeting scandal. One of
these, from Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.), would try to to ensure the IRS
can no longer play politics with tax exempt applications by allowing
groups to declare tax-exempt status on their own, without having to wait
for the IRS.
Another
from Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) calls for the firing of any IRS worker
that delays their tasks for political reasons, such as slow-walking the
tax-exempt status of a political group. And the third, from Rep. Pat
Meehan (R-Pa.), would require the Treasury Department to issue
regulations allowing groups to appeal decisions by the IRS not to grant
them tax-exempt status.
The
bills are being considered long after the targeting scandal broke,
which shows a lingering resentment among conservatives, and a feeling
that reforms are still needed at the tax collection agency. Just last
month, some Republicans accused the IRS of quietly working to undo
some of the reforms Congress has tried to impose on it, by putting
forward a budget plan that doesn’t include language related to ending
the political targeting of tax-exempt groups.
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