Oversight and Accountability
According to a recent survey, 60 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 71 percent of workers feel their pay isn’t keeping up with the cost of living. The numbers bear this out – 6.2 percent wage growth alongside 8.3 percent inflation means that Americans’ paychecks are worth 2.1 percent less than they were at this time last year. Employers are scaling back their plans to hire new workers and beginning to plan for potential layoffs. Americans everywhere are feeling the painful consequences of the out-of-touch policies of the Biden administration, and many fear the worst is yet to come.
Irresponsible economic policy and trillions of dollars in wasteful spending have squelched the growth and gains we saw following enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and have fueled inflation. To get back on track, we need to curb Washington’s spending addiction and put forward real solutions to address our inflation, workforce, and supply chain challenges. Instead, Democrats’ agenda – including their Inflation Act and student loan debt transfer scheme – will do more harm to our economy and threatens future prosperity.
To make matters worse, the Inflation Act included $80 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While customer service and technology systems at the IRS need improvement, the agency has plans to use most of this massive, $80 billion infusion to squeeze more dollars out of American taxpayers. I am particularly alarmed that the IRS and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plan to target families, farms, and small business with up to 90% of new audits.
We must take immediate action to prevent the IRS from doing this. I, along with Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), introduced a bill to defund the Biden Administration’s plan to hire 87,000 new IRS agents and block efforts to drastically increase audits on middle class families while preserving funding for customer service and IT modernization. Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has made clear one of the first actions of a Republican-led House come January will be to stop this overreach.
The IRS has long lost touch with its mission to serve taxpayers. The IRS funding in Democrats’ Inflation Act will result in more audits for those who can least afford it, plain and simple. American families don’t need more audits and red tape, and Republicans will fight to ensure hardworking taxpayers receive satisfactory customer service without having to fear a supercharged IRS.
Under one-party rule, the federal government is failing the American people, and I am using every tool available to hold the administration accountable. Strong oversight is desperately needed, and we also need to reform the IRS plagued by severe backlogs and data security liabilities.
House Republicans have submitted more than 500 requests to the Biden administration seeking information and documents to demand transparency and greater accountability, something Democrats in Congress have blocked for political reasons. I have championed many of these efforts.
More must be done to hold this administration accountable; continuing to fight for the American people to have a government that’s accountable is House Republicans’ Commitment to America.