Washington, D.C. – Rather than keep Congress waiting for the Biden Administration’s plans for how it will use $80 billion in new funding for audits and tax enforcement or details on the myriad of other ways in which the Administration will saddle middle class families with higher taxes and more debt to pay for its welfare for the wealthy agenda, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen not to delay her budget testimony before the Committee in a new letter:

“Unfortunately, in previous years, your testimony on the President’s Budget Request has been delayed—17 days in 2021 and more than two months in 2022. Given the significance of the policies under your stewardship, I cannot reiterate how important it is for you to prioritize testifying before the Committee immediately following the release of the President’s Budget Request,” writes Smith in the letter.

The request to testify on the President’s FY24 budget is a key part of the House Majority’s mandate to hold the Administration accountable and seek transparency, particularly in these key areas where Americans demand common sense, but Washington Democrats are doubling down on the crazy:

• The IRS has not yet revealed its plan to spend the massive infusion of $80 billion it received from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The funding would allow the agency to hire 87,000 new agents that analysis shows would lead to increased audits and enforcement actions against those earning less than $400,000.
• Trillions in new taxes: Economists projected that the tax increases in President Biden’s first budget would cost 1 million jobs. Last year’s budget went even farther, with proposed tax hikes of $4 trillion, including an attack on family businesses with a supercharged second death tax and $46 billion in tax increases on American energy, raising utility bills and fuel costs for millions of families.
• Politically motivated leaks of taxpayer information remain unexplained to the public. Americans still have no idea about the size and scope of various politically-motivated leaks of taxpayer information from within the IRS.
• Treasury is still negotiating a global tax surrender with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that would give China an advantage over American companies and their workers. As Chairman Smith has written, the agreement relies heavily on U.S. concessions and allows China to gain a competitive edge in the global economy.
• Treasury will be doling out over $400 billion in new green welfare subsidies. Not only will Treasury oversee hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded special interest subsidies for solar panels and electric vehicles, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act has sparked a potential trade war with our trading partners.

Smith continues in the letter: “Hardworking families across the country are looking to the Committee on Ways and Means to increase the level of transparency and accountability from the Biden Administration. To fulfill our mandate and promise to the American people, I invite you to testify before the Committee on Ways and Means at 9:00 am on March 10, 2023, and I look forward to your testimony.”

READ: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Smith’s Letter to Secretary Yellen

READ: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Smith’s Letter to OECD Secretary General Cormann

READ: Smith Demands Answers from IRS on $80 Billion Middle Class Audits Plan