Issa Statement on Treasury/IRS Proposed Tax Exempt Status Rule Change

WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) today made the following statement on the Administration’s proposed changes to 501(c)(4) rules:

“This new effort by the Obama Administration to limit traditional advocacy efforts by social welfare organizations will have a much more profound impact on grassroots and community organizations than on the well-heeled groups it supposedly targets. The fact that the Administration’s new effort only applies to social welfare organizations — and not powerful unions or business groups — underscores that this is a crass political effort by the Administration to get what political advantage they can, when they can.

“The Committee’s interim report into the IRS’s targeting scandal explained how the Citizens United decision caused the IRS to handle conservative tax-exempt applicants in a distinct and unfair manner. The regulation released today continues this Administration’s unfortunate pattern of stifling constitutional free speech.”