IRS to pay $70M in Employee Bonuses Despite an Obama Administration Directive to Cancel Discretionary Bonuses

The rules do not apply to the IRS …

And the hits keep on coming from the IRS. According to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa the IRS  is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year. Sequestration has caused many government agencies and departments to furlough employees, but not the IRS, they get bonuses. Of course this probably has nothing to do with the fact that the IRS is in charge of enforcing Obamacare and they get special treatment. Of course this bonus payout comes in the wake of the IRS targeting scandal of conservative organizations and the lavish, out of control wasteful spending of tax payer dollars on conventions where they seemed to have lost the receipts.

The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says his office has learned that the IRS is executing an agreement with the employees’ union on Wednesday to pay the bonuses. Grassley says the bonuses should be canceled under an April directive from the White House budget office.

The directive was written by Danny Werfel, a former budget official who has since been appointed acting IRS commissioner.

“The IRS always claims to be short on resources,” Grassley said. “But it appears to have $70 million for union bonuses. And it appears to be making an extra effort to give the bonuses despite opportunities to renegotiate with the union and federal instruction to cease discretionary bonuses during sequestration.”

The IRS said it is negotiating with the union over the matter but did not dispute Grassley’s claim that the bonuses are imminent.