IRS employees to be held accountable for misconduct in new bill: Sen. Enzin- By Henry Fernandez (foxbusiness.com) / Aug 16 2018
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) discusses why he and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) introduced two new bills to try to hold IRS employees accountable for bad behavior.
Two new bills introduced in the Senate are aimed at ensuring accountability at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The IRS Accountability Act of 2018 amends the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 to allow the removal or transfer of senior executive employees at the agency based on misconduct or performance.
“We had people that were rehired after misconduct or poor performance so bad that their folder was marked ‘Do Not Re-Hire,’” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) told FOX Business’ David Asman on Thursday.
Sen. Enzi along with Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are co-sponsoring the bills that prohibit the IRS commissioner from rehiring people who have been fired for cause. The second bill lists the offenses that include threatening an audit for personal gain, seizing property without approval, assaulting, harassing or violating the civil rights of a taxpayer or a coworker, lying under oath and falsifying or destroying records.
The Treasury Department said the IRS re-hired 213 employees after termination or separation between January 2015 and March 2016.
“We are not holding them accountable like I expect my kids or my grandkids accountable,” Enzi said on “After the Bell.”
Enzi said some of the people guilty of the listed infractions within the IRS were rewarded with pay increases and promotions.
“We want to make it easier to fight back and have penalty for violations,” Enzi said about the ultimate goal of the IRS accountability bill.
