The IRS Has Rehired Hundreds of Fired Employees. Congress Should Step In.

For one of the most punitive agencies in the federal government, the IRS sure is forgiving with its own employees.

Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., has proposed a bill that would prevent the IRS from rehiring employees fired for misconduct or poor performance.

The bill, titled the Ensuring Integrity in the IRS Workforce Act, follows a recent Treasury inspector general report that shows the IRS rehired more than 200 fired workers in a little over a year. A previous inspector general report proves this problem dates back to at least 2009.

According to the Treasury Department’s inspector general, the IRS did not provide officials responsible for hiring decisions with information about employment history, though that information is readily available. As a result, the IRS—an agency with nearly unrivaled access to citizens’ personal information and capacity to harass individual taxpayers—rehired:

•A fired worker with several misdemeanor theft convictions and one count of felony possession of a forgery device. •11 employees previously disciplined for unauthorized access to taxpayer accounts. •An employee who was absent without leave for 270 hours—the equivalent of 33 work days.

-- A fired worker with several misdemeanor theft convictions and one count of felony possession of a forgery device.
-- 11 employees previously disciplined for unauthorized access to taxpayer accounts.
-- An employee who was absent without leave for 270 hours—the equivalent of 33 work days.
-- An employee fired for physically threatening co-workers.
-- An employee fired for lying about previous criminal convictions on employment forms.

-- 17 employees previously caught falsifying official documents.

Did they ask for back pay?

https://thefederalist.com/2018/06/22/report-mccain-staffer-urged-irs-to-conduct-financially-ruinous-investigations-of-non-profits/

Report: McCain Staffer Urged IRS To Conduct ‘Financially Ruinous’ Investigations Of Non-Profits
JUNE 22, 2018 By The Federalist Staff

Newly public documents indicate that a top staffer for Sen. John McCain urged Internal Revenue Service officials to conduct “financially ruinous” investigations of nonprofit groups.

Judicial Watch just released a batch of internal notes from the IRS which detail a discussion between top IRS officials, including Louis Lerner, and former staff director for McCain and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee Henry Kerner, at a meeting dated April 30, 2013. The notes are an IRS staffer’s version of what happened.

As the coauthor of campaign finance regulations known as McCain-Feingold, McCain has long urged more government restrictions on political speech and activity. He notably criticized the Citizens United ruling, calling it the “most egregious decision of the United States Supreme Court in the 21st century,” because it enabled corporations to spend money on political messaging via independent nonprofit organizations.

In the 11 pages of notes, Kerner reportedly asked the IRS what tools the federal agency had to monitor and crack down on organizations that may be abusing their nonprofit status. Lerner explained that the IRS can revoke an organization’s tax-exempt status if they are abusing it, but that it doesn’t happen overnight, to which Kerner suggested that “maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous.”

(snip)

https://osc.gov/News/pr18-3.pdf

Senate Confirms Henry Kerner to the Office of Special Counsel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C./October 17, 2017 –

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announces that Henry Kerner of California has received Senate confirmation of his Presidential nomination as Special Counsel, Office of Special Counsel.

Mr. Kerner graduated from Harvard Law School and spent 18 years working as a career prosecutor in California. In 2011, he relocated to the Washington, D.C., area and joined the staff of the House Oversight Committee, under Chairman Darrell Issa, the chief investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. Under Chairman Issa, and later, in a return engagement, under Chairman Chaffetz, he led investigations of the Federal bureaucracy and fought on behalf of whistleblowers to protect American taxpayers. In the interim, Mr. Kerner was the Staff Director for Ranking Member Sen. John McCain on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the lead investigative committee of the Senate.

He assumes OSC leadership from his position as a Vice President at Cause of Action, a nonpartisan oversight group committed to exposing waste, fraud and abuse in the Federal Government and which has worked with whistleblower and good government groups throughout the country.

OSC’s Principal Deputy Special Counsel and Acting Special Counsel Tristan Leavitt welcomes Mr. Kerner. “Henry brings a deep commitment and integrity aligned with OSC’s mission. We are excited to welcome him shortly, and I look forward to working closely with him to safeguard whistleblowers and promote accountability in government.”

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