The IRS Scandal, Day 551

Wall Street Journal:  At Last, a Chance to Get to the Bottom of the IRS Mess, by Cleta Mitchell (Foley & Lardner, Washington, D.C.):

The day after Republicans won solid majorities in the House and Senate, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader-to-be Mitch McConnell outlined priorities for the newly elected Congress. High on the list is fundamental tax reform. In addition to overhauling the federal tax code, however, Congress should rein in the Internal Revenue Service.

Much has already been learned about the arrogance of the IRS from the House investigations of the agency’s targeting of conservatives. The revelations emerged despite strenuous efforts by Democrats in Washington and by the IRS itself to block inquiries and deny the existence of political targeting—targeting that the former head of the IRS Exempt Organizations Unit, Lois Lerner, eventually acknowledged and apologized for in May 2013.

Bringing the IRS to heel can start with re-energizing and expanding congressional investigations and holding accountable those responsible for the targeting and other abuses. To serve notice that the IRS’s thumbing of its nose at Congress by ignoring multiple congressional subpoenas will no longer be tolerated, the House GOP Steering Committee should elect Rep. Jim Jordan as the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (where current chairman Darrell Issa is term-limited). ...

Since 2012, House investigators have been subjected to an IRS rope-a-dope game by the refusal of the agency and various officials to respond to subpoenas or to answer questions fully and forthrightly. The House should now reissue the subpoenas that will expire at the end of this Congress and proceed to federal court to enforce all outstanding subpoenas previously issued to the IRS and its personnel during the course of the investigations.

More important, the House should ask the federal courts to enforce its May 2014 contempt resolution against Ms. Lerner for refusing to answer questions from Congress about her role in the targeting of conservatives. It is clear that the Obama Justice Department has willfully failed to file an enforcement proceeding in federal court. There also are strong separation-of-powers arguments against allowing the executive branch to unilaterally disregard congressional disciplinary actions taken against an executive-branch official like Ms. Lerner for refusing to testify before Congress.

Beyond all this, Republicans now have the opportunity to expand their inquiries into other areas of IRS misconduct. ... As Congress shines a light on these and other unacceptable IRS practices, public support for fundamental tax reform will only increase. The new Republican-controlled Congress will thus have a rare opportunity to overhaul a tax policy and a tax-collecting agency that both desperately need it.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 550 (Nov. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 549 (Nov. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 548 (Nov. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 547 (Nov. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 546 (Nov. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 545 (Nov. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 544 (Nov. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 543 (Nov. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 542 (Nov. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 541 (Nov. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 540 (Oct. 31, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 539 (Oct. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 538 (Oct. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 537 (Oct. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 536 (Oct. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 535 (Oct. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 534 (Oct. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 533 (Oct. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 532 (Oct. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 531 (Oct. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 530 (Oct. 21, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 529 (Oct. 20, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 528 (Oct. 19, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 527 (Oct. 18, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 526 (Oct. 17, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 525 (Oct. 16, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 524 (Oct. 15, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 523 (Oct. 14, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 522 (Oct. 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 521 (Oct. 12, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 520 (Oct. 11, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 519 (Oct. 10, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 518 (Oct. 9, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 517 (Oct. 8, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 516 (Oct. 7, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 515 (Oct. 6, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 514 (Oct. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 513 (Oct. 4, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 512 (Oct. 3, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 511 (Oct. 2, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 510 (Oct. 1, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 509 (Sept. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 508 (Sept. 29, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 507 (Sept. 28, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 506 (Sept. 27, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 505 (Sept. 26, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 504 (Sept. 25, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 503 (Sept. 24, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 502 (Sept. 23, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 501 (Sept. 22, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)