SCOOP: Firings, weaponized revenue rulings, and more — how IRS scandals are raising attention on the Hill
Washington, D.C. – Recent revelations about alleged political bias and misconduct at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers demanding accountability and reform. Three high-profile scandals have thrust the agency into the spotlight, raising concerns about its impartiality and operations under the Biden administration.
In August, a top IRS lawyer in the Office of Chief Counsel, was reported to have pledged to “resist” President Donald Trump during his second term. The former aide to Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore), had a history of advocating far-left positions, including calls to abolish prisons and pack the Supreme Court. Following the report, the employee was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into whether his political views influenced his work at the IRS, especially as this employee authored the controversial Revenue Ruling 2024-14.
More recently, another IRS senior officer was attacking conservatives and President Trump while being employed as a federal employee. The Daily Caller recently highlighted that IRS employees Holly Paz and Niki Wilkinson, previously linked to the 2013 Tea Party targeting scandal under Lois Lerner, were still in power at the start of the Trump administration. The report alleges they were involved in new efforts to target conservative groups, prompting renewed scrutiny of the IRS’s hiring practices and oversight.
Oversight of the IRS is exactly what Republicans like Rep. Jason Smith (R., Mo.) told the Reporter they plan to continue.
“We are absolutely keeping direct oversight over the IRS,” he said. “ have presented the administration a list of reforms that I believe that need to happen at the IRS. I've even presented information to them of non for profits that I believe that the tax exempt status should be revoked on because of terrorism or promoting propaganda that is harmful to the U.S., and we shouldn't be subsidizing that by allowing it to be in a nonprofit.”
But according to a Republican Hill source, these incidents are merely the tip of the iceberg. The source claims the Biden-era IRS has embedded liberal policies into its operations, pointing to a controversial Revenue Ruling criticized by Reps. Lloyd Smucker (R., Pa.) and Mike Kelly (R., Pa.). The ruling, which targeted businesses, was seen by the Republican lawmakers as stretching the law to advance ideological agendas instead of upholding neutral tax administration. It was also authored by the employee later placed on leave for his anti-Trump comments.
In a letter to IRS Commissioner Billy Long, Smucker and Kelly demanded the ruling’s immediate withdrawal, arguing it exemplifies systemic bias within the agency.
On Capitol Hill, outrage is growing. A senior Republican aide told the Washington Reporter that“the IRS’s politicized actions under Biden — whether it’s rehiring scandal-tainted officials or issuing ideologically driven revenue rulings — undermine public trust. This is not some small or inconsequential agency. The new team needs to enact President Trump’s agenda at the IRS immediately.”
A source close to the Trump administration echoed this sentiment, telling the Reporter that “the IRS needs to hit pause on all Biden-era policies, including that revenue ruling, until a full review can root out this blatant weaponization. The American people deserve an IRS that enforces the law fairly, not one that picks sides.”
As investigations unfold, lawmakers are signaling that IRS reform will be a top priority, with calls for transparency and accountability reverberating across the Hill.