White House opposes ‘reckless’ GOP bill to rescind IRS funding

The White House on Monday excoriated Republican-led legislation up for a vote in the House to rescind funding for the IRS allocated last year by Democrats, calling it a “reckless” bill that would benefit “tax cheats.”

“With their first economic legislation of the new Congress, House Republicans are making clear that their top economic priority is to allow the rich and multi-billion dollar corporations to skip out on their taxes, while making life harder for ordinary, middle-class families that pay the taxes they owe,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

“That’s their agenda; not lowering costs or cutting taxes for hard working Americans – as President Biden has consistently advocated,” the statement continued.

The House is set to vote as early as Monday evening on the bill, which would claw back roughly $80 billion in funding for the IRS set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed last summer with only Democratic votes.

Democrats have said the money will be used to improve taxpayer services and increase the agency’s ability to crack down on corporations and wealthy Americans who are skirting tax laws.

Republicans for months vowed to reverse the funding if they won control of the House, claiming the money would be used to fund other Democratic priorities and that the agency would go after middle-income Americans.

The Congressional Budget Office found the bill would add $115 billion to the national debt over 10 years.

The White House on Monday noted that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has already made clear that none of the additional resources would be used to increase audit rates targeting small businesses or households making less than $400,000 annually.

Biden would veto the bill if it made it to his desk, the White House said, an unlikely scenario given it would need to pass the Democratic-led Senate.

The pushback against Monday’s IRS legislation is a preview of some of the fights to come between the White House and the GOP-controlled House. Republicans in the House are expected to ramp up their legislative proposals in the coming days and weeks after concluding a bruising days-long process to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker.