On Thursday, my colleagues and I on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will vote on whether to hold Internal Revenue Service Official, Lois Lerner, in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about her role in the IRS political targeting scandal.
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You may recall President Barack Obama’s promise to make his administration the “most transparent in history.” In fact, the day after his first inauguration, he promised a new era of “openness in government.” Yet here we are, five years later, confronted with yet another case of government abuse, secrecy and cover-up.
After it came to light that the IRS was systematically targeting conservative and tea party-affiliated organizations seeking tax exempt 501(c)(4) status, Lerner — the main official behind the illegal practice — refused to testify about her involvement. For months, the Committee tried to work with the administration to get answers, but was met with roadblocks and misleading information. The Oversight Committee is now in a position where a contempt vote is necessary to get the answers the American people deserve.
A recent report put out by my colleague, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), found that despite repeated claims that the IRS also targeted liberal organizations, a thorough investigation into the matter shows that that was not the case. Internal documents released show that Lerner and other senior IRS officials were concerned, for example, about the “hugely influential Koch brothers.”
“[T]he Administration and congressional Democrats have seized upon the notion that the IRS’s targeting was not just limited to conservative applicants,” the report reads. “These Democratic claims are flat-out wrong and have no basis in any thorough examination of the facts. Yet, the Administration’s chief defenders continue to make these assertions in a concerted effort to deflect and distract from the truth about the IRS’s targeting of tax-exempt applicants.”
Further, the Obama administration actually doubled-down on the practice of ideological targeting following these revelations, rather than correct the egregious overstepping. In November, the agency quietly issued a new rule meant to keep social welfare organizations from abusing their tax exempt status by engaging in “electioneering.” What the proposed IRS rule change actually does is severely restrict 501(c)(4) organizations’ ability to engage in the public square by restricting a wide array of campaign-related activities, as well as define what activities are considered political. The rule was no doubt intended to stifle Tea Party-affiliated groups — but its scope actually goes well beyond those, opening nonpartisan groups up to more scrutiny as well.
As the House Appropriations Committee begins drafting legislation to fund the government for fiscal year 2015, I am imploring the committee to prohibit funds from being used to implement these new IRS regulations. On Thursday, when the contempt vote is scheduled to take place, I will vote for transparency for the American people who demand answers. Congress must hold those responsible for unfairly targeting organizations based on their ideological views accountable.
