WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. George Holding (R-13) introduced a bill Thursday that will transfer the criminal investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the authority of the U.S. Treasury Department as the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
“This is the first substantive step toward dismantling the IRS,” said Holding of the bill.
The criminal investigators of the IRS handle cases such as money laundering, offshore tax evasion and even the terrorism finance networks. While said he respect the work of the investigators, it doesn’t belong in a “failed bureaucracy” like the IRS.
This is the latest in a series of moves to rein in the federal tax collection agency. Recently, another North Carolina’s Rep. Mark Meadows (R-11) was part of a duo that successfully pushed for impeachment hearings to be held for IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The hearings begin May 24.
The congressmen accuse Koskinen of lying to congressional investigators in relation to the tax-exempt status scandal in which the IRS suppressed non-profit status approvals for conservative political groups and knowingly destroyed evidence there of.
Holding has been focused on cleaning up problems at the IRS for most of his tenure as a congressman.
“The IRS has a troubled track record when it comes to approving organizations to operate as a 501(c)4, often forcing groups to wait months or even years to gain tax-exempt status. These indefinite delays, particularly when motivated by dislike for the groups’ views, make it impossible for these organizations to become operational in a timely manneror, in some cases, ever,” Holding said of the IRS Bureaucracy Reduction and Judicial Review Act, which he introduced in 2015.
Holding is scheduled to participate in his first primary debate, against opponents Dr. Greg Brannon and Rep. Renee Ellmers Thursday night. The congressional primary is June 7.
