Bills
| 3.23.22

Does the Commissioner of the IRS Need to be Impeached? (H. Res. 494)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H. Res. 494?

(Updated November 19, 2019)

This resolution would impeach John Koskinen, the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for four high crimes and misdemeanors that are explained in the legislation’s text. The charges allege that Koskinen failed to respond to subpoenas, made false and misleading statements under oath, and wasn’t competent or forthright with respect to his investigation of Lois Lerner for ideologically targeting political groups for scrutiny. If approved, this resolution would trigger a trial before the Senate, the results of which could lead to Koskinen being removed from his position.

The first article of impeachment against Koskinen contends that he “failed in his duty to respond to lawfully issued congressional subpoenas” which allowed for the destruction of records needed for an investigation. Despite being re-issued a subpoena on February 14, 2014 that had previously been issued to the IRS when he was confirmed as the Commissioner, Koskinen didn’t preserve all of the records requested by the subpoena. 422 backup tapes that contained up to 24,000 of Lois Lerner’s emails covered by the subpoena were erased by IRS employees on March 4, 2014 which impeded Congress’ investigation.

The resolution also charges that Koskinen made false and misleading statements on three occasions while testifying under oath before Congress — twice on June 20, 2014 and once on March 26, 2014. All of the comments were related to the preservation and status of Lois Lerner’s emails. Further, the resolution contends that Koskinen acted “in a manner inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him” and also “failed to act with competence and forthrightness in overseeing the investigation into IRS targeting.

Argument in favor

The IRS badly mishandled its investigation of Lois Lerner for targeting tax-exempt groups based on their political views, and as a result Congress should impeach the agency’s Commissioner, John Koskinen.

Argument opposed

Congress shouldn’t be wasting part of its remaining time in session this year with impeachment proceedings for the IRS Commissioner who isn’t directly responsible for the destruction of Lois Lerner’s emails.

Impact

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen; the IRS; the House and potentially the Senate.

Cost of H. Res. 494

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: In explaining why he introduced this resolution, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) offered the following:

“Commissioner Koskinen violated the public trust. He failed to comply with a congressionally issued subpoena, documents were destroyed on his watch, and the public was consistently misled. Impeachment is the appropriate tool to restore public confidence in the IRS and to protect the institutional interests of Congress. This action will demonstrate to the American people that the IRS is under repair, and signal that Executive Branch officials who violate the public trust will be held accountable.”

The IRS has refuted the claims made by this resolution, saying that it cooperated with Congress’ investigation. Koskinen has requested the ability to defend himself before the House Judiciary Committee prior to the House as a whole voting on his impeachment.

While this legislation hasn't been passed out of the House Judiciary Committee yet, some House Republicans are pushing for it to get a vote before Congress takes its summer vacation. To circumvent a reluctant GOP leadership, members of the House Freedom Caucus have filed a privileged resolution that would allow them to force a vote on the floor without leadership's approval.


Of Note: No executive branch official who isn’t the president has been impeached since 1876, when William Belknap — the Secretary of War — accepted illegal payoffs. The House voted to impeach Belknap but he was acquitted by the Senate, when the vote to convict failed to get the needed two-thirds majority.



Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Screengrab / YouTube)