SCOOP: IRS weaponization becomes a growing concern for conservatives
For many on the right, the IRS remains a major problem. Here's the latest on the politicized agency...
For years, conservatives have warned that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has steadily transformed into a political weapon. It has become less about enforcing tax law and more about enforcing left-wing policy. These warnings have been vindicated with evidence that proves the IRS is filled with loyalists who view conservatives as targets, rather than as taxpayers.
Far from being a neutral tax-collecting agency, the IRS has long been staffed by officials with clear partisan agendas who have repeatedly used their positions to back leftist causes while targeting conservatives.
We saw this clearly during the Trump era. These problems were not new. When President Trump took office, he inherited a federal bureaucracy still infested with unelected officials loyal to the left. Cleaning out this “deep state” became one of his administration’s toughest battles. Even under a Republican administration, the IRS remained stocked with officials who were openly hostile to conservative policies.
These problems are not new, the template for weaponizing the IRS was set more than a decade ago under President Barack Obama. In 2013, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) reported that Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Unit, oversaw a program that used politically loaded terms such as “Tea Party” and “patriots” to red flag conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. Such groups were then subject to heightened scrutiny.
This left conservative groups tied up in endless delays. These groups were often subjected to invasive and irrelevant questions like demands for donor lists, membership details, and even the political activities of their own volunteers. These organizations saw their applications effectively stalled according to TIGTA’s 2013 report.
The scandal should have been a legal wake-up call. Instead, it set the template for how bureaucrats could tilt the scales of power from inside the federal government, leaving the agency deeply politicized by the time Donald Trump entered office.
Lois Lerner was not alone. She had allies inside the IRS who carried out the same agenda. Holly Paz, then Director of Rulings and Agreements at the IRS and top deputy to Lerner, was also implicated. Paz was directly involved in reviewing the tax-exempt applications of conservative groups. This unit was also established under a Biden-appointed commissioner. Paz remained in the IRS’s ranks for years. After the scandal broke, Paz was placed on administrative leave.
And years later, Anthony Sacco emerged. While serving as a senior lawyer at the IRS, Sacco pledged publicly to “resist” Trump. His Twitter feed was littered with far-left rants, blasting Republicans.
In September 2020, as the Senate prepared to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Sacco blasted out a post on Twitter declaring that the Republicans had “completely obliterated principles, integrity, and norms.” He mocked the idea of taking the high road and urged Democrats to pack the Court, including hashtags like #resist and #vote. This information was documented prior to Sacco restricting access to his Twitter account.
Sacco was a key player driving IRS revenue rulings as recently as April 2025. Revenue rulings are formal statements from the IRS that explain how tax laws apply to particular circumstances. They guide taxpayers, accountants, and government officials in complying with federal requirements. Sacco had a direct hand in shaping interpretations that impacted entrepreneurs, mom-and-pop shops, and working families across America. His dual role as partisan activist and policy-shaping lawyer highlights the conflict of interest that is plaguing the IRS.
Removing actors like Lerner, Paz, and Sacco addresses the visible symptoms but Republican leaders argue the disease is systemic. A Republican Senate source told the Washington Reporter that “firing politicized staff is not enough if the Trump IRS is still following the policies that those far-left staff created. Senators want policy changes, not just personnel changes.”
Personnel changes alone cannot solve a systemic issue that has allowed partisanship to shape highly impactful tax policy for over a decade. There is growing momentum among lawmakers to enact reforms that limit IRS discretion, increase transparency, and create clear, neutral guidelines for nonprofit reviews.
Republican leaders have called on the IRS to immediately pause all policies that were written by leftist partisan actors, and Hill sources tell the Reporter that there will be additional congressional oversight of any IRS actions taken that rely on guidance written by partisan leftists.
Until lawmakers enact reforms to restrain the agency’s discretion and strip away ideological influence, the IRS will remain vulnerable to abuse. Americans will continue to pay the price for this left-wing, politically driven enforcement.
The Reporter reached out to the IRS, the Treasury Department, and the White House for comment.