WAYS AND MEANS REPUBLICANS BLOCK SCHNEIDER-LED AMENDMENT TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN TAX AUDITS AND INVESTIGATIONS

View Rep. Schneider's full remarks here.

"I hope my colleagues on this committee will vote to stand up to the blatant corruption in this White House and oppose political interference and IRS corruption," said Schneider. "It is the duty of this committee to provide oversight to the IRS and to the Treasury, and to ensure the integrity of our tax system. Every taxpayer should be able to feel confident that the IRS is not being used as a political tool or will not be used against them. This administration is eroding public trust in our tax system, and this committee cannot continue to ignore the blatant corruption. If this administration is illegally directing the IRS to audit the President's political enemies, the American people deserve to know, and the officials responsible should be brought to justice."

View a transcript of Rep. Schneider's remarks below.

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, Mr. Chairman, as we consider adding restrictions on allowable contributions and adding penalties for tax exempt organizations for illegal political contributions in this underlying bill, I think it's important that this committee ensure the penalties on violations of the law prohibiting political interference from within, including from within the administration, match the severity of the crime as well.

"I hope my colleagues on this committee will vote to stand up to the blatant corruption in this White House and oppose political interference [and] IRS corruption. In fact, I assume everyone has seen that the acting Chief Counsel of the IRS and the Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy has been ousted from the department after warning the White House that their attempts to request or influence IRS audits is in violation of Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code. The acting Chief Counsel for the IRS warned the White House that its request[s] for IRS audits were blatantly illegal and was forced out of the department for speaking up after warning the White House that their actions were violating federal law. This official was fired. That does not tell me that this administration wants to or intends to obey the law. It tells me that the administration has every intent to fill the position with someone who will do the President's bidding, whether or not it is legal.

"Section 7217 is extremely clear. It is unlawful for the President, the Vice President, or any employees of the executive office of the President or Vice President, and all cabinet level officials, with the single exception of the Attorney General, to 'request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer.' Section 7217 also states that anyone who receives such a request must report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Anyone who makes a request that is prohibited under this section, or anyone who receives such a request and fails to report it to the Inspector General can be punished for up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. It's worth repeating - the President cannot legally direct the IRS to audit or investigate any taxpayer, and there's a reason that this law is on the books. President Nixon tried to weaponize the IRS to go after his enemies, and in the aftermath, Congress, this body, acted in a bipartisan way to pass Section 7217 to limit potential political interference in IRS operations.

"It is the duty of this committee to provide oversight to the IRS and to the Treasury, and to ensure the integrity of our tax system. Every taxpayer should be able to feel confident that the IRS is not being used as a political tool or will not be used against them, and every single member of this committee should be outraged by the reporting of the firing and dismissal, given the warnings. Last Congress, following the leak of taxpayer information by an IRS contractor, [Charles] Littlejohn, my Republican colleagues on this committee proposed a bill to increase the maximum penalty for the illegal disclosure of taxpayer data, the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. During our consideration of that bill, Chairman Smith said, 'increasing the maximum fine and imprisonment period for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information will help deter individuals from violating the trust of American taxpayers.' Surely, the same should be true for violations of the law prohibiting political interference by the White House into IRS operations.

"So today, I'm offering an amendment to increase the maximum penalty for violations of Section 7217 to $250,000 and increase the maximum term of imprisonment to ten years - the same levels that this committee passed with overwhelming bipartisan support under the Chairman's Taxpayer Data Protection Act. This administration is eroding public trust in our tax system, and this committee cannot continue to ignore the blatant corruption. If this administration is illegally directing the IRS to audit the President's political enemies, the American people deserve to know, and the officials responsible should be brought to justice. I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back."

View the text of the amendment here.