10 tea party groups still awaiting approval from IRS

[Valin]

Washington Times:

Stephen Dinan

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

 

Ten tea party groups are still awaiting approval by the IRS years after they applied for tax-exempt status, Senate investigators revealed Wednesday in a report that recommends the tax agency issue a ban preventing employees who work on nonprofit applications from engaging in political activity.

 

Investigators said the IRS’s top brass showed bad management in letting the division that handles nonprofit applications run amok, but the report cleared those top officials of more serious charges of trying to punish groups politically opposed to President Obama.

 

Indeed, after two years of investigation the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee couldn’t even agree on whether there was politically motivated targeting in picking which applications to delay or to give extra scrutiny — the central allegation in the 2013 inspector general’s audit.

 

“The committee found evidence that the administration’s political agenda guided the IRS’s actions with respect to their treatment of conservative groups,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, committee chairman.

 

But Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat, said just the opposite: “The results of this in-depth, bipartisan investigation showcase pure bureaucratic mismanagement without any evidence of political interference.”

 

What the two senators could agree on was that the IRS needs stricter controls on employees, including a time limit that would force the agency to decide on applications within 270 days. Some tea party groups’ applications have languished for five years awaiting a decision on nonprofit status.

 

(Snip)