Shockingly, Kevin McCarthy appears to be actually doing his best to fight for at least some of what the base wants. Though he’s only been in power for a few days now, we’ve already gotten the Jim Jordan-led “Weaponization of Government” Select Subcommittee and now a vote to partially defund the IRS, stripping it of the extra funding it received in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Fox News Digital, reporting on that vote and what Republicans did to hit back at the IRS before it starts cranking up the dial on American taxpayers with more audits, reported:
The House of Representatives voted to rescind more than $70 billion in funding to the Internal Revenue Service on Monday night, fulfilling newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s promise to prevent the agency from hiring tens of thousands of new agents and conducting new audits on Americans.
The bill — dubbed the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act and sponsored by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif. — passed the House of Representatives, 221-210.
The legislation will roll back the billions of dollars of funding for the IRS approved in the Inflation Reduction Act last year but leaves in place funding for customer service and improvements to IT services.
So, theoretically, at least, the IRS might be slightly more responsive to taxpayers but won’t have the resources necessary to start ramping up audits.
McCarthy, tweeting about the vote, said “🚨 House Republicans just voted unanimously to repeal the Democrats’ army of 87,000 IRS agents 🚨 This was our very first act of the new Congress, because government should work for you, not against you. Promises made. Promises kept.”
He also retweeted a post by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, who said “Under @SpeakerMcCarthy’s leadership, Republicans just passed legislation to repeal Democrats’ efforts to hire 87,000 new IRS agents. The
@HouseGOP is following through on their Commitment to America.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a McCarthy ally during the Speaker of the House voting process, cheered the IRS vote as well, saying “First act of the Republican majority: DEFUNDING 87,000 IRS Agents targeting American families. Proud to vote YES!”
Similarly, Rep. Lauren Boebert, who was not a McCarthy ally during the Speaker of the Houve vote saga, cheered the vote, saying “The House voted in favor of a bill to DEFUND Biden’s 87,000 Person IRS Army. The federal government’s days of being weaponized against the American people need to come to a swift end.”
Former President Donald Trump did not yet comment on the matter on Truth Social. The vote did, however, come shortly after he called on the GOP to roll back Democrat gains by playing hardball on the debt negotiations, saying:
REPUBLICANS CAN GET ALMOST EVERYTHING BACK THAT “THE OLD BROKEN CROW,” MITCH McCONNELL, AND THE REAL “LEADER,” CHINA CENTRIC COCO CHOW, STUPIDLY GAVE UP TO THE DEMOCRATS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, BY SIMPLY PLAYING TOUGH IN THE UPCOMING DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS. WITH THE “RIGHT” NEGOTIATORS, LIKE ALL OF THOSE INVOLVED THE OTHER NIGHT (ON BOTH SIDES!) FOR SPEAKER, IT WILL BE A BEAUTIFUL AND JOYOUS THING FOR THE PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY TO WATCH. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!
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