Burr reintroduces bill to end IRS practice of rehiring bad ex-employees

In response to recent findings that the IRS continues to rehire previously fired employees with conduct and performance issues, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) reintroduced legislation last week to step up accountability within the agency.

The Ensuring Integrity in the IRS Workforce Act, S. 1643, would prohibit the IRS commissioner from rehiring former employees who left the agency because of verifiable conduct or performance-related issues.

“The rampant abuse at the IRS has continued and thrived for far too long,” Burr said. “Whether it is the rehiring of previously terminated employees or continuing to give bonuses to poorly performing executives who can’t be fired — the delinquency at the IRS must end. It’s exactly actions like this that erode the public’s trust in their government.”

Burr’s bill follows a report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on Thursday that found hundreds of former IRS employees with histories of conduct or performance issues were rehired by the agency over an 18-month span.

“The American people are sick and tired of Washington at its worst,” Burr said. “We have Americans paying the salaries of IRS workers who have repeatedly cheated the very government they took an oath to serve, and a commissioner who won’t fire bad actors. The time to put a stop to these atrocious practices is now.”

TIGTA reported similar findings about IRS hiring practices in 2014. Burr pressed IRS Commissioner John Koskinen about the 2014 report during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last year, and Koskinen responded that the agency “does not hire people with prior performance issues.”