Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is leading 13 senators in
Citing news reports, Warren said the IRS is scrambling to hire thousands of new workers after the agency fired or pushed out nearly 30,000 employees last year — more than a quarter of its staff. The letter is an indicator of what Democrats may launch as official inquiries if they regain power after the midterms in November.
The senator told Bloomberg Tax that while it's too early to discuss future investigations, she and other Democrats are "just trying to dig into what's going on."
"The odds of a rich tax cheat being investigated have dropped dramatically with Donald Trump in the White House," Warren said. "And that's great for rich tax cheats."
Bisignano has repeatedly defended the cuts, saying there was "no staffing shortage" at the IRS and telling Congress in May he had "zero staffing concerns."
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
Reporting also revealed the IRS' chief human capital officer warned that a staff shortage was affecting the agency's ability to process tax returns and had created a massive backlog. Subsequently, the agency sought to hire 8,000 employees on an expedited basis.
"This discrepancy requires an explanation," the lawmakers wrote.
The coalition of senators asked Bisignano to answer their questions by Aug. 5.
Warren, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, was joined by Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Peter Welch (Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).
