Republicans Loudly Celebrate Passing Bill to Defund IRS in Video

House Republicans were seen cheering and applauding as they voted to cut funding to the Internal Revenue Service in their first economic legislation of the new Congress.

In a 221 to 210 vote along party lines on Monday, the GOP voted through the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, which aims to rescind $80 billion of funding introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act last year.

The GOP and newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have long vowed to go after the IRS funding in the new Congressional term, which they claimed would be used to recruit 87,000 new agents to audit low and middle income families.

Democrats and fact-checkers have long dismissed the suggestion that the 87,000 figure would be made up entirely of auditing agents.

Instead, some of the $80 billion funding would be used to hire other IRS workers such as customer-service representatives and replace the estimated 50,000 workers who are set to retire or leave in the next few years, as well as update its IT systems.

In a speech he gave after he was finally voted in as House Speaker, McCarthy said that the GOP-controlled Congress’ “very first bill” will be to repeal the funding for 87,000 IRS agents, adding: “We believe government should be to help you, not go after you.”

After the bill passed on Monday, McCarthy banged the gavel and stated “promises made,” prompting celebrations from the House Republicans, with footage from C-Span of the applause posted on social media.

In a statement on Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act would raise the deficit by around $114 billion.

The Biden administration also condemned the “reckless” bill passed by the House Republicans, while dismissing Republican claims that the new IRS resources will be used to increase audit rates for small businesses or households with incomes below $400,000.

“Far from protecting middle-class families or small businesses, H.R. 23 protects wealthy tax cheats at the expense of honest, middle-class taxpayers,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

“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.”

Despite being passed by the House, the bill has next to no chance of being voted through by the Democrat-controlled Senate. President Joe Biden could also use his veto powers to block the bill should it ever make it to his desk.

The bill was originally introduced last October by Reps. Adrian Smith, [R-Nebraska] and Michelle Steel, [R-California].

In a statement after the bill was passed, Smith said: “The last thing the American people need right now are more audits from an out-of-control, bloated IRS.

“The Inflation Act funding for IRS would lead to the hiring of 87,000 new IRS employees tasked with raising enough revenue to pay for Democrats‘ Green New Deal priorities.

“Our bill leaves in place funding for customer service and IT improvements because IRS is in desperate need of reform, but it protects middle-class families from audits they cannot afford.”

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.