House Republicans, who are now in control of the legislative body, voted Monday evening to cut billions of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service after the agency received a significant boost in funding in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who just was elected to the position after 15 rounds of voting, hailed the passage of the bill by a 221-210 vote.
“Government should work for you, not against you. As part of the House Republican Commitment to America, I promised we would vote to repeal the Democrats’ army of 87,000 IRS agents on our very first day in the majority,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Promises made. Promises kept.”
McCarthy previously said during his first speech as House speaker that the first bill that Republicans were going to vote on was to cut IRS funding.
The increase in funding was estimated to be north of $80 billion over 10 years to help the agency collect more taxes from American citizens in addition to other purposes like technological upgrades. The Washington Post noted that Republicans voted to strip about $71 billion from those funds.
The bill is unlikely to pass in the Senate.
The focus on cutting funding to the IRS was included in the economic portion of McCarthy’s “Commitment To America” plan.
Other key points from the economic section include:
- Curb wasteful government spending that is raising the price of groceries, gas, cars, and housing, and growing our national debt.
- Increase take-home pay, create good-paying jobs, and bring stability to the economy through pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies.
- Maximize production of reliable, cleaner, American-made energy and cut the permitting process time in half to reduce reliance on foreign countries, prevent rolling blackouts, and lower the cost of gas and utilities.
- Move supply chains away from China, expand U.S. manufacturing, and enhance America’s economic competitiveness and cyber resiliency
Related: Kevin McCarthy Gives Speech On House Floor After Winning Speakership