Staff Reports
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel could use a reminder that all executive branch agencies operate under the authority granted by Congress, the First Branch of the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, it seems his understanding of this principle is as shaky as the agency he leads. Recently, Republican Senators John Barrasso, Mike Crapo, and Joni Ernst have stepped up to point out just how out-of-control the IRS has become, but it’s hard not to wonder whether their efforts will lead anywhere other than more bureaucratic double-talk.
Senator Ernst has been particularly vocal about the IRS’s blatant negligence concerning its own ranks. According to a recent Treasury Inspector-General report—one Ernst herself requested—more than 5,800 IRS employees and contractors were found to owe a staggering $50 million in taxes. Among these tax scofflaws are 3,414 IRS employees, which is about 4% of the agency’s entire workforce. For some reason, those with payment plans still owe $9 million, while the rest don’t even have an excuse: they’re sitting on a cool $12 million in unpaid levies.
But the chaos doesn’t stop at the IRS’s internal incompetence. The report also reveals that 2,573 out of 25,732 IRS contractors—nearly 10%—are similarly delinquent, racking up $25 million in unpaid taxes. This would be a scandal in any other agency, but in the IRS, it’s business as usual, especially given that some of these contractors are former full-time employees. The IRS seems to have turned a blind eye, rehiring over 500 former employees who owed taxes, and it doesn’t help that Commissioner Werfel has opted to overlook the law requiring termination of tax-delinquent employees over 1,000 times.
This shocking state of affairs has emerged while President Joe Biden was busy proposing to bulk up the IRS with 87,000 additional agents—allegedly to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay up. However, as Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee pointed out, this promise of targeting the rich is likely just a smokescreen for a massive audit assault on middle-class Americans. Of course, the last thing taxpayers want is for the IRS to double as their tax preparer, auditor, and enforcer—all at once.
In the murky shadows of Washington, three Republican senators are sounding the alarm about IRS officials with unpaid taxes while the agency plans to expand its authority. The IRS, it seems, is less a tax collector and more a band of tax cheats hiding in… https://t.co/MObzTS45Oe
— The America One News (@am1_news) August 1, 2024
Senators Barrasso and Crapo have raised serious concerns over the IRS’s new Direct File Program, which lacks Congressional authorization. They argue that the very notion of the IRS preparing tax returns raises alarms about accountability and privacy. The American people already have plenty of free options for tax preparation, so why roll out a government program that puts the fox in charge of the henhouse? The IRS received approval to study the concept, not to jump straight into execution—yet here they are, trampling over traditional checks and balances.
The real question lingering in the air like a bad odor from last week’s uncollected garbage is whether these senators will actually pursue action against this blatant bureaucratic overreach. The answer might just come down to one thing: defunding. If ever there was a case for scrutinizing government spending, this is it. Either Republicans or logical Democrats need to step up and start trimming the budget of the IRS or any other agency that thinks they can go rogue without repercussions. Otherwise, they’ll just be left grumbling about the bureaucrats who continue to disregard their authority.
