ByStephanie Condon, Lucy Madison /
CBS News/ May 15, 2013, 6:22 PM
Updated: 6:52 p.m. ET
Amid investigations into possible political discrimination at the IRS, acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller has resigned, President Obama announced Wednesday evening.
On the heels of a Treasury inspector general report released Tuesday, Miller, a career bureaucrat, resigned at the bequest of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. According to a message from Miller to IRS employees obtained by CBS News, his assignment ends in early June.
A timeline released in Tuesday's report showed the IRS in the spring of 2010 began targeting groups with keywords like "Tea Party," "Patriot" and "9/12 Project" in their names to flag for heightened, typically burdensome, scrutiny. The agency insisted last week that no high-level employees were aware of the practice, but the IG report alleges that Lois Lerner - an IRS official in charge of oversight of tax-exempt groups - knew about it as early as June 2011.
In remarks at the White House Wednesday night, Mr. Obama expressed a lack of patience for the practices outlined in the Treasury inspector general report, and promised to hold responsible parties accountable.
"The misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable," Mr. Obama said, referring to the IG report. "It's inexcusable and Americans are right to be angry about it. And I am angry about it."
Steven T. Miller, formerly the acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service, stepped down Wednesday night.
/ IRS.gov
The president said he would "not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency," but particularly not in the IRS. "As I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you're from, the fact of the matter is the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity."
CBS News has confirmed that Miller was informed of the IRS's targeting policy in May 2012. On July 25, 2012, Miller testified before a House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee, but he did not mention the agency's heightened scrutiny for the applications of conservative groups. After learning of the controversial IRS practice, he also wrote at least two letters to Congress explaining the process for reviewing tax-exempt status applications; in neither of those letters did he mention the targeting.
A congressional hearing has been scheduled for next Wednesday, and several witnesses have been invited to testify about their knowledge of and participation in the targeting practice.
The House Oversight committee is also requesting that 5 individuals be made available for transcribed interviews by Committee staff beginning May 20, 2013.
Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday told Congress that the possible criminal violations in the IRS case include "false statement violations" that may have been made.
Meanwhile, a congressional source tells CBS New that two Cincinnati, Ohio-based employees of the IRS have been disciplined and are "off reservation" in light of the Tuesday report.
CBS News/ May 15, 2013, 6:22 PM
Updated: 6:52 p.m. ET
Amid investigations into possible political discrimination at the IRS, acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller has resigned, President Obama announced Wednesday evening.
On the heels of a Treasury inspector general report released Tuesday, Miller, a career bureaucrat, resigned at the bequest of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. According to a message from Miller to IRS employees obtained by CBS News, his assignment ends in early June.
A timeline released in Tuesday's report showed the IRS in the spring of 2010 began targeting groups with keywords like "Tea Party," "Patriot" and "9/12 Project" in their names to flag for heightened, typically burdensome, scrutiny. The agency insisted last week that no high-level employees were aware of the practice, but the IG report alleges that Lois Lerner - an IRS official in charge of oversight of tax-exempt groups - knew about it as early as June 2011.
In remarks at the White House Wednesday night, Mr. Obama expressed a lack of patience for the practices outlined in the Treasury inspector general report, and promised to hold responsible parties accountable.
"The misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable," Mr. Obama said, referring to the IG report. "It's inexcusable and Americans are right to be angry about it. And I am angry about it."
/ IRS.gov
The president said he would "not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency," but particularly not in the IRS. "As I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you're from, the fact of the matter is the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity."
CBS News has confirmed that Miller was informed of the IRS's targeting policy in May 2012. On July 25, 2012, Miller testified before a House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee, but he did not mention the agency's heightened scrutiny for the applications of conservative groups. After learning of the controversial IRS practice, he also wrote at least two letters to Congress explaining the process for reviewing tax-exempt status applications; in neither of those letters did he mention the targeting.
A congressional hearing has been scheduled for next Wednesday, and several witnesses have been invited to testify about their knowledge of and participation in the targeting practice.
The House Oversight committee is also requesting that 5 individuals be made available for transcribed interviews by Committee staff beginning May 20, 2013.
Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday told Congress that the possible criminal violations in the IRS case include "false statement violations" that may have been made.
Meanwhile, a congressional source tells CBS New that two Cincinnati, Ohio-based employees of the IRS have been disciplined and are "off reservation" in light of the Tuesday report.