As soon as Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker (on the 15th ballot), we knew that House Republicans would pass terrible legislation. And of course, they did not disappoint.
On Jan. 9, the House voted—on a party-line basis—to repeal urgently needed reforms to the IRS, and by doing so, blew a big hole in our budget deficit.
This funding—which passed last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act—is a critical investment and a fiscally prudent step that will raise more than $200 billion in tax revenue.
It will modernize the agency so that taxpayers get their refunds more efficiently, and so the I.R.S. can focus its enforcement efforts on millionaire tax cheats who rigged the system for years.
The facts don’t matter here. House Republicans want to beat up the IRS and protect the Donald Trumps of the world.
But this is also part of a deliberate ploy by Republicans to starve the public sector and make it completely ineffectual.
Since 2010, Republicans have slashed the IRS budget by 20%, leading to delays in processing tax returns and refunds and allowing the wealthiest 1% to avoid paying taxes.
Ever tried calling the IRS for customer service? Good luck. I did when I needed to file an amended return in 2021, and it was a nightmare that took months. They are understaffed.
Thankfully, we can stop this bill in the Senate. Chuck Schumer has already declared that it’s dead on arrival, and the White House already said they would veto such legislation.
But it shouldn’t even get to that. We need to make this a painful, humiliating defeat for Kevin McCarthy.
We must let all 100 U.S. senators know (regardless of party) that this Republican bill is unacceptable and must be defeated. The IRS modernizations are fiscally prudent and socially just, and we are counting on the Senate to defeat this bill.
