GOP to Immediately Repeal Hiring of 87,000 IRS Agents If Republicans Flip House: McCarthy

Republicans will immediately move to reverse the Biden administration’s hiring of 87,000 IRS agents if they flip the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, the top Republican in the lower chamber said on Sept. 23.

“On that first day that we are sworn in, you will see that it all changes,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told a crowd in Pennsylvania. “Because in our very first bill, we are going to repeal 87,000 IRS agents.”

“Our job is to work for you, and not go after you,” he added.

The Inflation Reduction Act, approved by Democrats in both chambers and signed by President Joe Biden, included funding for 87,000 additional IRS workers.

“In all of my years in Congress, I have not had a phone call from anyone saying ‘Steve, please add more people to the IRS,’” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said at the Pennsylvania event, dubbed the “Commitment to America.”

“If there are 87,000 people needed in America, it’s at the border to secure America’s border. Not at the IRS to go after small businesses and hard-working families,” he added.

Senate Republicans introduced a bill earlier this month that would block the IRS from using the new funding to audit Americans making less than $400,000 annually.

Without support from the Senate, any House bill wouldn’t advance to Biden. Additionally, Republicans in both chambers would need to summon a veto-proof majority, which would likely mean getting Democrat support.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) speaks at a press event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Aug. 24, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In a competing event, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in Pennsylvania that Democrats were proud of passing the Inflation Reduction Act. He described the legislation as bringing down the costs of healthcare