Repealing IRS funding in the Inflation Reduction Act saved $70 billion.
QUICK FACTS:
- In a 221-210 outcome, House Republicans voted in favor of repealing funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), preventing the addition of 87,000 IRS agents.
- The vote came as part of the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, sponsored by Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Michelle Steel (R-CA).
- The bill limits funding for the IRS and curbs audits on American citizens, while also allowing for technological improvements in customer service and IT services.
- The since-halted expansion of the IRS intended to audit Americans in order to raise “enough revenue to pay for Democrats’ Green New Deal priorities,” Representative Smith said.
- Rescinding IRS funding saves at least $70 billion out of an original grant of $80 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy responded to the vote by saying, “Promises made. Promises kept.”
- The bill will likely be shot down by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
MCCARTHY’S “COMMITMENT TO AMERICA”
- McCarthy maintained his promise that the “very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents.”
- McCarthy’s other commitments include making America energy independent, “end dependence on China,” and curbing “wasteful government spending,” according to his “Commitment to America.”
- Commitments also entail increasing “take-home pay,” securing the southern border, and expanding parental choice in their child’s education.
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected House Speaker after 15 ballots.
- Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was so sure no Democrat would get behind McCarthy that he vowed in a live Fox News segment he would resign if McCarthy won the House speakership with the help of a single Democrat vote.
