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Wisconsin’s Van Orden votes with rest of GOP in 1st 2023 bill passed by US House — rescinding IRS funding

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., swears in members of the 118th Congress on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, early Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

After a long process to vote on a Speaker, the US House passed its first bill on Monday.

Along a party-line vote with all Republicans in favor, the measure rescinded the majority of an increase in funding for the IRS, which was signed into law last year. The bill will unlikely pass in the US Senate.

The $80 billion in funding over the next 10 years was aimed at increasing enforcement on high-income earners. The measure was part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which every Republican voted against. About $71 billion would be cut if the legislation was signed by President Joe Biden.

Before the vote, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that rescinding the extra IRS funding would increase deficit over the coming decade by more than $114 billion.

Rookie GOP Congressman Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin said in a statement that his 3rd District wants “more border patrol agents and law enforcement officers – not 87,000 more IRS agents to monitor their financial transactions.”

Republicans have continued to use this claim about 87,000 IRS “agents,” but the actual hiring measure happens over 10 years and would add customer service reps and computer scientists, as well as replacements for the 52,000 employees expected to retire or resign within the next six years.

Also, legislation passed in December, which was rejected by 85 percent of Republicans — a measure Van Orden didn’t vote on because he wasn’t in Congress last year — does increase funding for border security and the hiring of more staff.

Charles Rettig, the former commissioner of the IRS, said in a final message to the agency in November that the additional money would help in many areas, not just beefing up tax enforcement. He said the investments would make it “even less likely for honest taxpayers to hear from the IRS or receive an audit letter.”

Van Orden continued in his statement that he “voted to squash Joe Biden’s attempt to squeeze taxpayers, families, and middle-class Americans because our government needs to work for the people, not against them.”

Last week, Van Orden spoke of bipartisanship, calling working across party lines “absolutely imperative.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported he would “work with anybody” as long as they meet certain conditions: “Everything you’re coming to me with is legally, morally and ethically correct. You’re putting the interests of the district, the state and country above your own personal, political and financial interests.”

“If you meet those four conditions,” Van Orden said, “we can talk.”

Host of WIZM's La Crosse Talk PM | University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate | Hometown: Greenville, Wis | Avid noonball basketball player and sand volleyballer in La Crosse

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. nick

    January 10, 2023 at 7:54 am

    The inflation reduction act has little to do with inflation reduction; Jelly Belly Biden admitted that.
    What I love about politicians on both sides; they treat us with contempt.
    The biggest item the IRS needs is to dramatically improve technology.

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