Washington — The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday is set to convene the first hearings on the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, with Republicans eager to expand the scandal and Democrats in no mood to defend the nation’s tax collector.
Only two witnesses are scheduled at the 9 a.m. hearing: Steven T. Miller, the acting I.R.S. commissioner who was forced to resign by President Obama, and J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, whose report on the program fanned a political tempest.
Representative Charles Boustany Jr., Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, said the two witnesses would be the first in a series that he hoped would lead the committee to officials responsible for flagging certain groups seeking tax-exempt status, such as those that included words like “Tea Party” and “patriot” in their names.
“We’re going to follow the trail. We have to start somewhere,” he said, adding, “I just refuse to believe that lower-level I.R.S. personnel were making these kinds of decisions.”
President Obama has tried to get on top of the scandal, condemning the program, vowing changes and requesting Mr. Miller’s resignation. But many Republicans have greeted each of these moves scornfully. Mr. Miller, as an acting I.R.S. chief, was likely to step down in June anyway, unless nominated for the permanent position.
Joseph Grant, commissioner of the I.R.S.'s tax-exempt and government-entities division, announced Thursday that he, too, would be leaving in the next month. But Republicans jumped on news Thursday evening that Mr. Grant’s predecessor, Sarah Hall Ingram, who led the division when the targeting operation began, is now in charge of the I.R.S. division overseeing implementation of parts of the president’s health care law.
Ms. Ingram’s name did not appear anywhere in the inspector general’s report of the program, nor had Republicans singled her out for criticism until now. But Republicans were eager to link the I.R.S. scandal with their opposition to the health care law.
“Stunning, just stunning,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
Mr. Miller is likely to face questions about when he first learned of the political targeting and why he appears to have kept it from Congress. According to the inspector general’s report, Mr. Miller was aware of the problem in March 2012, sending a team from I.R.S. headquarters in Washington to discuss it with the program’s leaders in Cincinnati. Yet a month later, Mr. Miller, then the deputy I.R.S. commissioner for enforcement, wrote a letter to Republican senators saying there was no targeting of conservative groups.
“There is a penalty for lying to Congress,” Mr. Boustany said.
The coveted slots on the Ways and Means Committee, with its broad jurisdiction over taxes, Social Security and health care, go largely to the most senior House members, so Friday’s hearings are not likely to feature fiery partisanship. Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the committee’s chairman, is soft-spoken, with a good relationship with committee Democrats.
But Friday’s hearing is only the first. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will hold its hearing, and its Democratic chairman, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, hopes to question Douglas Shulman, a Bush administration appointee who was I.R.S. commissioner during most of the targeting program.
On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its combative chairman, Representative Darrell Issa of California, will hold its first hearing on the matter, and will question Lois Lerner, an I.R.S. official who appears to have had knowledge of the program almost from its inception in 2010. Last Friday, when she apologized for I.R.S. conduct, she told reporters she learned of the program through news reports last year.
Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and a member of the oversight committee, has already accused Ms. Lerner of lying to Congress.
“Our job is to, in an appropriate fashion at the right pace, pursue the truth,” Mr. Jordan said.
Only two witnesses are scheduled at the 9 a.m. hearing: Steven T. Miller, the acting I.R.S. commissioner who was forced to resign by President Obama, and J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, whose report on the program fanned a political tempest.
Representative Charles Boustany Jr., Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, said the two witnesses would be the first in a series that he hoped would lead the committee to officials responsible for flagging certain groups seeking tax-exempt status, such as those that included words like “Tea Party” and “patriot” in their names.
“We’re going to follow the trail. We have to start somewhere,” he said, adding, “I just refuse to believe that lower-level I.R.S. personnel were making these kinds of decisions.”
President Obama has tried to get on top of the scandal, condemning the program, vowing changes and requesting Mr. Miller’s resignation. But many Republicans have greeted each of these moves scornfully. Mr. Miller, as an acting I.R.S. chief, was likely to step down in June anyway, unless nominated for the permanent position.
Joseph Grant, commissioner of the I.R.S.'s tax-exempt and government-entities division, announced Thursday that he, too, would be leaving in the next month. But Republicans jumped on news Thursday evening that Mr. Grant’s predecessor, Sarah Hall Ingram, who led the division when the targeting operation began, is now in charge of the I.R.S. division overseeing implementation of parts of the president’s health care law.
Ms. Ingram’s name did not appear anywhere in the inspector general’s report of the program, nor had Republicans singled her out for criticism until now. But Republicans were eager to link the I.R.S. scandal with their opposition to the health care law.
“Stunning, just stunning,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
Mr. Miller is likely to face questions about when he first learned of the political targeting and why he appears to have kept it from Congress. According to the inspector general’s report, Mr. Miller was aware of the problem in March 2012, sending a team from I.R.S. headquarters in Washington to discuss it with the program’s leaders in Cincinnati. Yet a month later, Mr. Miller, then the deputy I.R.S. commissioner for enforcement, wrote a letter to Republican senators saying there was no targeting of conservative groups.
“There is a penalty for lying to Congress,” Mr. Boustany said.
The coveted slots on the Ways and Means Committee, with its broad jurisdiction over taxes, Social Security and health care, go largely to the most senior House members, so Friday’s hearings are not likely to feature fiery partisanship. Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the committee’s chairman, is soft-spoken, with a good relationship with committee Democrats.
But Friday’s hearing is only the first. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will hold its hearing, and its Democratic chairman, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, hopes to question Douglas Shulman, a Bush administration appointee who was I.R.S. commissioner during most of the targeting program.
On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and its combative chairman, Representative Darrell Issa of California, will hold its first hearing on the matter, and will question Lois Lerner, an I.R.S. official who appears to have had knowledge of the program almost from its inception in 2010. Last Friday, when she apologized for I.R.S. conduct, she told reporters she learned of the program through news reports last year.
Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and a member of the oversight committee, has already accused Ms. Lerner of lying to Congress.
“Our job is to, in an appropriate fashion at the right pace, pursue the truth,” Mr. Jordan said.