Deplorable:
House Republicans on Monday unveiled a proposal to pay for emergency aid for Israel’s war against Hamas by cutting IRS funds aimed at cracking down on rich tax cheats and improving taxpayer service.
The legislation, released by the House Rules Committee, calls for approving roughly $14 billion primarily in military aid to Israel and cutting about the same amount from the IRS budget. President Biden has proposed giving Israel roughly the same amount in aid but did not call for offsetting cuts to other parts of the budget. The new House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), has said the new expenditure must be covered by other spending reductions to avoid adding to the debt. Biden also called for the Israel aid to be packaged with roughly $60 billion for Ukraine — an approach the GOP bill rejected.
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IRS has $80 billion coming. It should be spent on answering the phone.
The legislation reflects the GOP’s ongoing determination to undo the IRS expansion that Biden secured in 2022 in the Inflation Reduction Act, which boosted the agency’s funding by $80 billion to improve taxpayer services and pay for more enforcement actions against wealthy tax cheats. Biden and House Republicans agreed to repeal roughly $20 billion of that $80 billion as part of a deal in May to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling. Now Republicans are pushing for more reductions.
Conservatives say they are optimistic that the debt ceiling deal means the administration has demonstrated it will fold on IRS funding to approve other priorities and could be forced to do so again.
“It becomes the piggy bank the Democrats have accepted already,” said Grover Norquist, an anti-tax crusader at Americans for Tax Reform, which opposed the expansion.
The GOP’s bill kicks off what is likely to be a fierce political battle over support for Israel. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats will oppose the House GOP bill, according to Politico, and the White House is expected to oppose it as well.
House Republicans on Monday unveiled a proposal to pay for emergency aid for Israel’s war against Hamas by cutting IRS funds aimed at cracking down on rich tax cheats and improving taxpayer service.
The legislation, released by the House Rules Committee, calls for approving roughly $14 billion primarily in military aid to Israel and cutting about the same amount from the IRS budget. President Biden has proposed giving Israel roughly the same amount in aid but did not call for offsetting cuts to other parts of the budget. The new House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), has said the new expenditure must be covered by other spending reductions to avoid adding to the debt. Biden also called for the Israel aid to be packaged with roughly $60 billion for Ukraine — an approach the GOP bill rejected.
Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend.
IRS has $80 billion coming. It should be spent on answering the phone.
The legislation reflects the GOP’s ongoing determination to undo the IRS expansion that Biden secured in 2022 in the Inflation Reduction Act, which boosted the agency’s funding by $80 billion to improve taxpayer services and pay for more enforcement actions against wealthy tax cheats. Biden and House Republicans agreed to repeal roughly $20 billion of that $80 billion as part of a deal in May to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling. Now Republicans are pushing for more reductions.
Conservatives say they are optimistic that the debt ceiling deal means the administration has demonstrated it will fold on IRS funding to approve other priorities and could be forced to do so again.
“It becomes the piggy bank the Democrats have accepted already,” said Grover Norquist, an anti-tax crusader at Americans for Tax Reform, which opposed the expansion.
The GOP’s bill kicks off what is likely to be a fierce political battle over support for Israel. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats will oppose the House GOP bill, according to Politico, and the White House is expected to oppose it as well.
