House Republican voted unanimously to defund the non-existent “87,000 IRS agents,” a myth that was debunked by USA TODAY and The New York Times:
The 87,000 figure refers to a May 2021 estimate from the Treasury Department of the total number of employees — not just auditors — the I.R.S. proposes to hire over the next 10 years with funding requested by Mr. Biden. And while the I.R.S. plans to conduct more audits, wealthy Americans and businesses will bear the brunt of that scrutiny, not, as Republicans have suggested, working families.
Among the I.R.S.’s work force of about 79,000 employees, 10,000 are actually agents. (Of those, 8,000 are revenue agents who audit tax filings and 2,000 are special agents who investigate potential tax crimes.) In fact, the two most common I.R.S. jobs have little to do with tax auditing or investigations: about 13,000 are customer service representatives who answer taxpayer phone calls and 10,000 are seasonal employees who file mail or transcribe data. Other jobs include lawyers, examiners, technicians and appeals officers.
Many Republicans bragged on Twitter about voting for the non-existing agents, and failed to mention the Democrat-controlled Senate will never pass their imaginary delusion into law.
Nixing the 87,000 IRS agents tonight and conservatives are just getting started! pic.twitter.com/SfiWyOxX5j
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) January 10, 2023
Voting to defund 87,000 IRS agents in about 20 min. 😏
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) January 10, 2023
🚨 BREAKING → The House just voted to repeal funding for Biden’s 87,000 new IRS agents.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 10, 2023
Every Democrat voted no. Tells you all you need to know.
First act of the Republican majority: DEFUNDING 87,000 IRS Agents targeting American families
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) January 10, 2023
Proud to vote YES!
Tonight I will vote to DEFUND the 87,000 IRS agents hired to go after YOU!
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) January 9, 2023
🚨 House Republicans just voted unanimously to repeal the Democrats’ army of 87,000 IRS agents 🚨
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 10, 2023
This was our very first act of the new Congress, because government should work for you, not against you.
Promises made. Promises kept.
Tonight, I will vote against the 87,000 IRS agents empowered by the Biden Administration and Democrats to harass middle class families and small businesses. 🧵
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) January 10, 2023
(Sources: The New York Times, USA TODAY, Yahoo Finance, MSNBC/YouTube, Twitter)