On reality television and to the delight of millions across the country, Donald Trump fired hundreds of aspiring business moguls. Now that he’s leaving his New York penthouse for the Oval Office, though, conservatives doubt the president-elect’s resolve.
That’s why they’re going it alone. The House Freedom Caucus probably doesn’t trust Trump to fire IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and they want the credit for sacking the top taxman.
Outgoing Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan announced on Tuesday that his group will introduce a privileged resolution to force a vote on impeaching Koskinen. If that fails, the tax chief could stay in office for another year. His term doesn’t end until November 2017.
It’d be a nightmare scenario for the Freedom Caucus and it’s a real possibility.
While the incoming executive can hire whomever he chooses, it’s possible that Trump could just run out the clock with Koskinen. That’s what Obama did in 2009 when he stuck with his predecessor’s choice, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who served until 2012. It could happen again with Koskinen.
Newly minted Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows acknowledged that possibility Monday night, telling the Washington Examiner that Trump will “pick somebody for IRS either now or in November.” And unlike the cantankerous bans of conservatives, the new president doesn’t have political capital invested in Koskinen’s fate. In fact, it’d be a risk to tell him he’s fired.
Shaking up IRS headquarters would risk a political blowback. Every president since Nixon has undergone an audit each year they’ve served in office. More than any executive before him, though, Trump’s business holdings have come under increasing scrutiny. Canning Koskinen could make it seem like Trump’s shielding his foundation and tax returns from the scrutiny of an Obama appointee.
For the sake of propriety, Trump could decide to keep Koskinen around. That’s a risk the Freedom Caucus doesn’t seem willing to take.
The group of rabble rousers has been calling on Republican leadership to audit the taxman for months. Meanwhile Trump remained mostly silent on the issue while campaigning.
But Freedom Caucus members don’t think they need the president’s help. They’re confident in their chances of forcing the taxman out. Even if a Senate trial found Koskinen innocent of wrongdoing, a source inside the caucus told The Washington Examiner Monday night that they “had strong reason to believe he will resign.”
By re-upping the issue now, the group’s running a pressure play. If it works, they can finally deliver Koskinen’s head on a political platter to their base. If not, they could be stuck with him for another year.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
