On Wednesday, a conservative group appeared in court in its ongoing lawsuit that challenges the same provisions the IRS weaponized against right-leaning groups seeking nonprofit status more than a decade ago. The case is a reminder that Americans’ least favorite federal agency has long been used by the permanent bureaucracy to target conservative organizations and donors. But with Billy Long in place as IRS commissioner, the Trump administration has a rare opportunity to strike a decisive blow against rank partisanship and lawfare operations run out of the permanent bureaucracy.
DOGE was an encouraging start to the long campaign against waste, fraud, and abuse, but those victories will be all for naught if openly hostile, corrupt, and partisan executive agencies remain intact. Long no doubt understands that the lawfare operations used to target President Trump were at least inspired by the successful IRS targeting of conservative groups during the Obama administration.
Under Lois Lerner’s leadership, the IRS unfairly denied conservative groups tax-exempt status on the basis of their political leanings. In the ensuing investigation, Lerner, who served as director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Unit, admitted to targeted denials for otherwise deserving organizations due to their conservative leanings.
Lerner resigned in disgrace in 2013, but few Americans comprehend that the scandal had almost zero effect on the agency. Instead of following her out of the agency, many of her co-conspirators remained and have since been promoted through the ranks. Unsurprisingly, many other IRS employees with enforcement authority are serial Democrat donors who flaunt their opposition to the Trump administration and support Democrat policies on social media. In fact, anti-conservative bias seems key to getting ahead at the agency.
A decade of lawfare against conservatives is simply too long. We can no longer give partisan bureaucrats the benefit of the doubt. If Trump and Long want to effect lasting reform and eliminate bias, here are a few problematic actors who must go:
Robert Choi, acting commissioner of Tax-Exempt and Government Entities, was a deputy to Lois Lerner and took part in the first wave of targeting conservative organizations. He served as the director of Exempt Organizations, Rulings and Agreements, when the IRS began targeting conservative groups in 2010, and, alongside Lerner, apparently signed off on the discriminatory decisions.
When the scandal broke, Choi was interviewed by members of Congress but faced no actual punishment and continues to hold an important leadership position in the organization. Choi is a decades-long registered Democrat.
Holly Paz, who serves as commissioner of the Large Business and International Division, was an integral part of Lerner’s targeting of conservatives. She worked under Choi and took his place as the director of Exempt Organizations, Rulings and Agreements.
Paz briefly faced consequences for her participation in this scandal, being placed on administrative leave in 2013, but was back in the agency before too long. Under the Biden administration, she was elevated to her current senior position. Outside of her work with Lerner and Choi to discriminate against conservative organizations, Paz also personally financially supported President Obama’s campaign.
Elizabeth Kastenberg took part in the targeting of conservatives under Lois Lerner and even admitted that the targeting was due to political affiliation. Her acknowledgment of discriminating against Americans due to their political beliefs did not disqualify her from becoming the acting director of the Office of Professional Responsibility. The IRS must operate under a different definition of “professional responsibility” than we do.
During Lerner’s tenure, Kastenberg was responsible for reviewing audits of conservative-leaning nonprofits. Emails that are a matter of public record demonstrate that she was instructed to “be on the lookout for a teaparty case,” and that she was explicitly instructed to deny tax-exempt status to two conservative organizations.
In another email, she acknowledged the bias in the treatment of conservative applicants for tax-exempt status, writing in 2011 that “these cases are held back primarily because of their political party affiliation rather than specifically any political activities.” Despite knowingly perpetrating a politically motivated, discriminatory campaign against the right, Kastenberg and her accomplices remain in charge of major parts of the group responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the main body of the federal statutory tax law.
Removing these actors is a start. But Republicans must realize that we need more than showy public hearings. That means striking a blow against rank partisanship. Today’s IRS leadership structure suggests that extreme partisanship is not just tolerated, it’s rewarded.
Many higher-ups in the IRS publicly demonstrate anti-Trump and anti-conservative biases. Directors of major departments are Democrat donors, giving money to Biden, Obama, presidential candidate Kamala Harris, several other Democrat campaigns, and liberal political organizations. Social media posts endorse discriminatory and unconstitutional DEI hiring policies; support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement; and criticize DOGE’s attempts to cut spending and root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
After more than a decade of lawfare, including actions meant to sway the outcome of elections, we can no longer give nakedly partisan bureaucrats the benefit of the doubt. If the administration wants to show they are serious about lasting reform and an end to lawfare operations, they should empower Long to drain the leftist fever swamp at the IRS.
Tom Jones is president of the American Accountability Foundation.
