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Abuse by IRS = Budget Cuts by House Republicans

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House Republicans want the IRS to pay for targeting political groups and are  pushing legislation that would cut the tax collecting agency’s budget by $3  billion — nearly a quarter of what it received last fiscal year.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to start “marking up” the  spending bill Wednesday.

While it’s unlikely that such a severe cut will pass both congressional  chambers, it does give lawmakers another opportunity to verbally punish the  agency for unfairly scrutinizing conservative groups applying for tax-exempt  status.

The bill would place additional restrictions on spending at the IRS and  prohibit employees from implementing the individual mandate in the Affordable  Care Act – commonly referred to as ObamaCare. It also bans conferences, the  production of videos and curbs what lawmakers see as a number of abuses at the  IRS.

The fiscal 2014 spending bill figures were released Tuesday by House  Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers. The legislation would give $9  billion to the IRS – $4 billion less than what President Obama requested and $3  billion less than what House Republicans gave last year. In fiscal 2013, the  agency’s budget was around $12 billion.

The cuts aren’t sitting well with the National Treasury Employees Union which  represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.

President Colleen Kelley says that the 24 percent cut in funding would take  the agency’s budget back to the level it was more than a decade ago.

“In terms of the ability of the IRS to meet its mission on behalf of the  American people, such a budget would absolutely devastate the agency,” Kelley  said in a written statement. Kelley also argues that the tax agency should  not be penalized because a May 14 audit by the Treasury Inspector General for  Tax Administration “found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing or political  motivation on the part of IRS employees in the tax-exempt division.”

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