WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dale Strong joined his Republican House colleagues Monday night to pass a bill slashing nearly $71 billion that Congress had provided the IRS.
The “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act” was approved on a party-line vote of 221-210. The bill now goes to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it will likely die.
“I was proud to support this legislation – the first bill considered and passed by the House during the 118th Congress,” said Strong (R-Monrovia), an original co-sponsor of the legislation. “Americans deserve a government that’s accountable and works for the people, not against them.
“Repealing funding for 87,000 new IRS agents is a great first step in the right direction.”
This measure will repeal funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided the IRS with $45 billion to add 87,000 agents over the next decade.
“I am glad to be hitting the ground running and working with my colleagues to pass legislation that is important to my constituents,” Strong said. “The IRS should be focused on providing quality service to taxpayers, not targeting them.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Monday the bill would cut federal spending by $71.4 billion but “decrease receipts by $186.8 billion over the 2023-2032 period.” In essence, it would create a $114.4 billion deficit over 10 years.
Sen. Ron Wyden, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the bill will not make it through the Senate.
“The only way that House Republicans could make it any more obvious that they’re doing a favor for wealthy tax cheats is by coming out and saying it in exactly those words,” he said. “This bill is going nowhere in the Senate.”
President Joe Biden has said he would veto the bill if it gets to his desk.
“With their first economic legislation of the new Congress, House Republicans are making clear that their top economic priority is to allow the rich and multibillion-dollar corporations to skip out on their taxes, while making life harder for ordinary, middle-class families that pay the taxes they owe,” the White House said in a statement.
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