President Joe Biden's Office of Management and Budget laid into a House Republican bill seeking to reverse new funding for the Internal Revenue Service, calling it "reckless."
The legislation, which newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., could introduce in just hours, does not have the votes to pass the Democrat-led Senate but serves as a solid statement to kick off the new term for Republicans.
"With their first economic legislation of the new Congress, House Republicans are making clear that their top economic priority is to allow the rich and multi-billion dollar corporations to skip out on their taxes, while making life harder for ordinary, middle-class families that pay the taxes they owe," the statement stated.
"That's their agenda; not lowering costs or cutting taxes for hard working Americans — as President Biden has consistently advocated," it continued. "If the president were presented with H.R. 23 ... he would veto it."
The White House also reiterated Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's pledge that none of the new IRS funding passed in last year's Inflation Reduction Act would be used to target "small businesses or households with incomes below $400,000."
Forwarding a bill to cut roughly $80 million in funding from the agency would make good on a top promise from McCarthy throughout the November midterm elections and leading up to the speaker vote over the weekend.
"Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents," McCarthy said in his ascension speech Saturday. "You see, we believe government should be to help you — not go after you."
Other Republican priorities in the new term include pushing legislation to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to bar illegal aliens, prevent the Secretary of Energy from sending gas from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, and prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions.
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