The IRS Scandal, Day 1059

Politico, IRS v. House Republicans, Cont'd: 

There are several interesting nuggets in this WSJ piece about the continuing challenges the IRS faces, from the increasingly prevalent cybercrimes to the more mundane — like an aging workforce and an only temporary uptick in phone calls answered.

First, there’s no letup in the showdown between GOP lawmakers and the IRS commissioner they want to impeach, John Koskinen. House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah): “He’s earned no friends up here on Capitol Hill, because they haven’t solved the problems of targeting conservatives based on their political beliefs.” Koskinen: “I would challenge anybody to find any targeting of conservatives going on at this point.”

Wall Street Journal, Wait Times Are Down, But IRS Still Faces Serious Challenges:

[I]n 2013, the IRS disclosed it had given extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status. That revelation started a purge at the top levels of the agency and years of investigations.

A Senate report in 2015 found that IRS officials were “delinquent” in their treatment of Tea Party and other groups, resulting in heightened and inappropriate scrutiny, but Republicans and Democrats disagreed on whether IRS officials were motivated by their own political views.

House Republicans remain unsatisfied. They have turned their ire toward Mr. Koskinen because of the agency’s travails and contradictory statements as it tried to retrieve records for the investigations, such as the emails of Lois Lerner, former director of tax-exempt organizations at the IRS.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), who sponsored an impeachment resolution against Mr. Koskinen that has more than 60 co-sponsors, said the IRS has bloated management and has failed to update aging technology.

“John Koskinen was hired to come clean up the mess and he made it worse, not better,” said Mr. Chaffetz, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “And he’s earned no friends up here on Capitol Hill, because they haven’t solved the problems of targeting conservatives based on their political beliefs.”

Mr. Koskinen on Thursday said the agency has implemented recommendations from its inspector general and the Senate Finance Committee, and that he has tried to build an ethos in the IRS that encourages employees to report problems and get them addressed quickly.

“I would challenge anybody to find any targeting of conservatives going on at this point,” he said, without saying “targeting” had happened before he started. “There have been significant changes and improvements, and I’m confident that that kind of situation isn’t going to happen again.”

So far, the impeachment effort hasn’t advanced and Republicans and Mr. Koskinen seem stuck with each other. His term expires in November 2017, and the next president will choose his successor.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 1058 (Apr. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1057 (Mar. 31, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1056 (Mar. 30, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1055 (Mar. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1054 (Mar. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1053 (Mar. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1052 (Mar. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1051 (Mar. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1050 (Mar. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1049 (Mar. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1048 (Mar. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1047 (Mar. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1046 (Mar. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1045 (Mar. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1044 (Mar. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1043 (Mar. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1042 (Mar. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1041 (Mar. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1040 (Mar. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1039 (Mar. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1038 (Mar. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1037 (Mar. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1036 (Mar. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1035 (Mar. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1034 (Mat. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1033 (Mar. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1032 (Mar. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1031 (Mar. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1030 (Mar. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1029 (Mar. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1028 (Mar. 2, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1027 (Mar. 1, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1026 (Feb. 29, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1025 (Feb. 28, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1024 (Feb. 27, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1023 (Feb. 26, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1022 (Feb. 25, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1021 (Feb. 24, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1020 (Feb. 23, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1019 (Feb. 22, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1018 (Feb. 21, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1017 (Feb. 20, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1016 (Feb. 19, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1015 (Feb. 18, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1014 (Feb. 17, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1013 (Feb. 16, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1012 (Feb. 15, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1011 (Feb. 14, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1010 (Feb. 13, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1009 (Feb. 12, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1008 (Feb. 11, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1007 (Feb. 10, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1006 (Feb. 9, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1005 (Feb. 8, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1004 (Feb. 7, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1003 (Feb. 6, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1002 (Feb. 5, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 1001 (Feb. 4, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 901-1000 (Oct. 27, 2015 - Feb. 3, 2016)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 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)