Gibbs: Holding the IRS accountable

WASHINGTON, DC – With Tax Day this past Monday and the sting of dealing with the Internal Revenue Service still fresh in the minds of millions of Americans, the House approved several bills to reform the government agency this week.  Following passage of two bills yesterday, the House voted on H.R. 3724, the Ensuring Integrity of the IRS Workforce Act this morning.  H.R. 3724 prevents the IRS from rehiring former employees who were fired for misconduct.

A 2015 Treasury Department Inspector General report found that the IRS hired back hundreds of former employees previously fired for “tax issues, unauthorized access to taxpayer information” and other misconduct or unacceptable performance.  The Ensuring Integrity of the IRS Workforce Act stops this practice in its tracks.

After voting to hold the agency’s workforce accountable, Congressman Bob Gibbs released the following statement:

“The legislation the House passed this week is a series of commonsense proposals to make another out-of-control executive agency accountable to the American people.  As I said on the House floor earlier this week, government employees, especially those in the IRS, who work with private and sensitive data of American citizens, should not be given the chance to do it again after having been fired for misconduct or improper access to that data.  This bill, along with the other 3 passed this week, will make sure the IRS works for the American people rather than for its own agenda.”

The other three bills passed in the House this week are:

H.R. 4890 – IRS Bonuses Tied to Measurable Metrics Act – Places a ban on payment of bonuses to employees of the Internal Revenue Service until the Department of the Treasury submits to Congress a comprehensive customer service strategy that has been reviewed and approved by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

H.R. 4885 – IRS Oversight While Eliminating Spending Act – Requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to deposit fees for service in the general fund of the Treasury and prohibits the expenditure of such fees unless an appropriation is set by Congress.

H.R. 1206 – No Hires for the Delinquent IRS Act – Prohibits the hiring of additional Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees unless the Secretary of the Treasury certifies that no employee of the IRS has a serious delinquent tax debt, or submits to Congress a report explaining why it cannot make the required certification.

Category: Government