House Oversight Committee Continues IRS Targeting Investigations

Last year, when it was revealed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) inappropriately selected conservative groups for heightened scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform began a thorough investigation of the matter. Based on a release of documents from Judicial Watch, Republicans on the panel are now concerned that officials in the Department of Justice were especially keen on prosecuting conservative tax exempt groups whom they deemed to have been dishonest about their political activities. Oversight GOP have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the Department’s activities, writing, “We are severely disappointed in the Department’s apparent contribution to the Administration’s targeting of tax-exempt applicants.”

The Hill: Issa Questions Role of Holder’s DOJ in Targeting of Tea Party Groups

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder

Speaker Boehner, Congressional Republicans Speak on Immigration Reform

Speaker of the House John Boehner and other congressional Republicans have been speaking out on immigration reform recently. While in his home district in Ohio, Speaker Boehner made fun of a number of his fellow Representatives for failing to step up and tackle the thorny issue of immigration reform. “Here’s the attitude. Ohhhh. Don’t make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard,” he joked. Along the same lines—but taking on a more formal tone—Representative Peter King of New York sent Speaker Boehner a letter urging him to advance immigration reform. King expressed respect for those who are frustrated at the thought of legalizing those who broke American immigration laws, but said it was a practical impossibility to deport 11 million people. He also argued for strong border security provisions, particularly to compel the President to carry out legislation relating to the same. Like King, 22 Senate Republicans have expressed concern about ensuring that the President enforce immigration laws. A group sent a letter to President Barack Obama informing him that they were concerned that his decision to ask the Department of Homeland Security to review immigration laws would result in lax enforcement thereof. The President asked to see whether they could be enforced “more humanely within the confines of the law”.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Boehner Mocks GOP Colleagues on Immigration Reform

Politico: Peter King Urges Immigration Reform

Politico: 22 Senate GOPers: “Grave Concern” on Deportations

And for our latest post: Cracks in the Senatorial Saucer: Filling the Tree, Cloture, and Curtailing Senate Debate