The GOP-controlled House, in its first piece of legislation as the new majority, has voted for a bill that will roll back funding for the Internal Revenue Service that was implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive social spending bill passed by Democrats in the last Congress.
“Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said shortly after taking the gavel early Saturday morning to a standing ovation from his party. “You see, we believe government should be to help you, not go after you.”
The legislation rescinds $80 billion included in the Inflation Reduction Act to staff 87,000 new IRS agents.
The messaging bill was passed down a strict party line vote, 221-210. It now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it will not be taken up. The Congressional Budget Office estimated Monday that the bill would increase the deficit by more than $114 billion over a decade.
GOP lawmakers have railed against the nearly $80 billion the IRS will receive over the next decade as part of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act ever since the law was enacted last summer. Republicans have argued that the agency intends to hire an army of new agents to harass taxpayers, though the IRS has said the money will be used for improving customer service, supporting operations and addressing other needs as well. It has already hired several thousand new staffers to help taxpayers with the upcoming filing season.
The House vote fulfills a promise McCarthy made in September that the top priority of a Republican House majority would be to roll back “harmful provisions” in the Inflation Reduction Act, the right-leaning Americans for Prosperity said Monday, urging lawmakers to support to bill.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, blasted the House GOP legislation. “The CBO has confirmed what was obvious from the start — the Republican IRS bill, a handout to wealthy tax cheats, would add $114 billion to the deficit,” Wyden, a Democrat, said.
The White House already vowed that President Joe Biden would veto the legislation should it come to his desk, calling the bill “reckless.”
It also noted that the Treasury Secretary has already directed that the additional IRS funding not be used to increase audit rates relative to historical levels for small businesses or households with incomes below $400,000.
Republicans already successfully snipped the IRS’ funding, cutting more than $275 million from the agency’s budget in the fiscal year 2023 federal spending bill that was enacted last month. It provided the IRS with $12.3 billion for the current fiscal year.