IRS chief makes eyebrow-raising claim about Israel aid bill, then the CBO quickly kills it



IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel claimed that cutting his agency's budget to finance military assistance to Israel will cost taxpayers dearly.

On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) unveiled legislation to send $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel, a figure both Republicans and Democrats support. To pay for the assistance, the legislation proposes offsetting the cost by rescinding funds appropriated to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act.

That proposal, Werfel claimed, will cost taxpayers $90 billion.

"This type of the cut, over the cost of the Inflation Reduction Act, would actually cost taxpayers $90 billion — that's with a 'B,'" he told the Washington Post.

The cost is associated with a reduction in the IRS' ability to collect additional revenue over the next decade.

"All of those funds go to increased scrutiny on tax evasion going on at the highest wealth, and that is millionaires and billionaires and large corporations and large complex corporations," Werfel explained. "When you reduce those audits, you reduce the amount of money that we can collect and return to the Treasury for other priorities."

Werfel's cost estimation, according to the Washington Post, is "based on IRS modeling that shows a 6-to-1 ratio of money spent on tax enforcement to revenue collected."

The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, said Johnson's legislation would not cost taxpayers $90 billion. But the nonpartisan agency also found that simply reallocating funds meant for the IRS will not offset the cost of providing emergency military assistance to Israel.

In fact, the CBO found the bill would add $26.8 billion to the deficit, making its net cost $12.5 billion.

Those figures represent estimated costs over the next decade, and they assume the IRS increases revenue collection on wealthy Americans. But as the Treasury Inspector General for the Tax Administration, the official IRS watchdog, explained in a report earlier this year, the IRS is not positioned to increase such capabilities.

Still, the IRS told the Washington Post it has allocated only $2.4 billion of the $80 billion given to them in the Inflation Reduction Act. It's hard to believe that a small percentage of the money not currently being used can't be sent to our No. 1 ally in the Middle East.

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IRS chief responds to allegations of whistleblower retaliation: 'IRS follows the direction of the Justice Department'



IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel admitted last week that if an IRS whistleblower had their "work assignment" changed, it came at the direction of the Justice Department.

There are at least two IRS whistleblowers, one being a criminal supervisory special agent, that claim the Justice Department has interfered in a high-profile criminal investigation. While the attorneys representing the supervisory agent have been careful not to name the subject of that investigation, it is believed to be the Hunter Biden probe.

What did Werfel say?

Responding to allegations of internal retaliation against IRS whistleblowers, Werfel sent the House Ways and Means Committee a letter on May 17 denying those accusations, Fox News reported.

But he also suggested the Justice Department is responsible for actions taken against the whistleblower who came forward last month.

"I want to state unequivocally that I have not intervened — and will not intervene — in any way that would impact the status of any whistleblower," Werfel wrote, according to Fox News.

"The IRS whistleblower you reference alleges that the change in their work assignment came at the direction of the Department of Justice," he explained. "As a general matter and not in reference to any specific case, I believe it is important to emphasize that in any matter involving federal judicial proceedings, the IRS follows the direction of the Justice Department."

The admission corroborates what lawyers for the supervisory agent disclosed last week.

Attorneys Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt told Congress the entire investigative team handling the Hunter Biden probe was removed from the case.

Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress. He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice.

The lawyers characterized the development as "clearly retaliatory."

The supervisory IRS agent is set to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

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