Congressional Committee Votes to Censure IRS Commissioner

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is in hot water and House Republicans keep turning up the pressure.

On June 15, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to censure the embattled IRS Commissioner for his role in the long-simmering Tea Party scandal. Not surprisingly, the censure vote passed along party lines, 23 to 15. Separately, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to convene on June 22 to begin discussing a resolution to impeach Koskinen.

Koskinen took over the reins at the IRS in December 2013. Despite the charges levied against him, he has previously said that he intends to stay on until the end of his four-year term.

The censure isn’t quite as serious as impeachment. If passed by Congress, the resolution would eliminate Koskinen’s government pension and other benefits, but he would remain active in his current capacity. A censure doesn’t formally punish a government official, but it’s a very public reprimand and sign of disapproval. It also sends a strong political message.

“The Resolution expresses the sense of the House that Mr. Koskinen engaged in a pattern of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him as an officer of the United States, urges Mr. Koskinen’s resignation or removal, and requires forfeiture of his government pension and any other federal benefits for which he is eligible,” said Oversight committee Republicans in a prepared statement.

The Tea Party scandal began to unfold in 2013 when it was disclosed that the IRS was applying extra scrutiny to applications for tax-exempt status by conservative-leaning groups. After several highly-placed IRS officials were dismissed, the head of the IRS’ tax-exempt division, Lois Lerner, asserted her Fifth Amendment rights before the committee investigating the matter.

Koskinen inherited the mess, but critics are accused him of participating in a cover-up. They allege that he allowed backup tapes containing potentially 24,000 emails to be destroyed without notifying Congress. The emails purportedly involve representations made to and from Lerner. GOP members have also claimed that Koskinen offered false testimony to Congress regarding the backup tapes and refused to correct the record when he was provided the opportunity.

The Justice Department closed a lengthy investigation into the matter without bringing any charges against Koskinen. Nevertheless, the issue won’t go away, not in this election year.

Democratic leaders have rushed to Koskinen’s defense. The ranking Democrat on the Oversight committee, Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, called the censure resolution a waste of time. “There was no politically motivated targeting at the IRS. There was no lying to Congress. There was no obstruction of justice. It simply did not happen. After three years and more than $20 million, it is finally time to put these baseless conspiracy theories to rest,” said Cummings.