House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday there is no agreement within the Republican Party on whether to hold a vote to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.
Some lawmakers believe a vote to censure the embattled IRS chief makes more sense, McCarthy told reporters, while others want to consider an impeachment resolution.
The House GOP will discuss the issue privately, but must contend with a possible move by conservative lawmakers to try to bring the impeachment resolution to the floor.
Republicans accuse Koskinen of mismanaging the agency in the wake of a scandal involving IRS employees targeting conservative groups, and slow-walking their requests for tax-exempt status. They believe Koskinen, who was hired to reform the IRS, didn’t do enough to preserve IRS emails the GOP was seeking in their effort to determine how high in the Obama administration the targeting directive extended.
McCarthy said some in the GOP do not believe Koskinen’s actions rise to the level of impeachment.
“The definition of impeachment, people have a different opinion,” the California Republican said. “That is the discussion that goes around in our conference. That is the internal discussion we are having.”
A GOP aide affiliated with the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative group pursuing impeachment, told the Washington Examiner it “fully intends to pursue impeachment” but the timing is uncertain and will likely be put on hold until lawmakers meet privately to discuss it.
McCarthy said since both the Judiciary and House Government and Oversight Committees share jurisdiction, he wants to make sure both panels weigh in. The Judiciary Committee has not voted on whether to impeach or censure Koskinen. McCarthy planned a meeting Tuesday afternoon with panel Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., though he did not say what specific topics would be discussed.
The Oversight panel has voted to censure Koskinen, and panel Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, believes he should be impeached.
Others in the GOP are not so sure, McCarthy said.
“Is there enough legislative evidence for impeaching Koskinen?” McCarthy said. “It’s determined by what the level you believe impeachment is. Gerald Ford had one opinion. Others believe it rises to a different level.”
