Whitehouse: IRS Cuts in Republicans’ Israel Supplemental Would Increase Deficit

Washington, D.C.—Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an estimate of House Republicans’ proposed $14.3 billion supplemental aid package for Israel.  House Republicans’ “offset” would rescind $14.3 billion from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement and would reduce federal revenues by $26.8 billion, increasing the deficit by $12.5 billion and costing American taxpayers. 

Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement:  

“Republicans never miss a chance to protect their billionaire donors.  As if conditioning aid to Israel on this gift to wealthy tax cheats wasn't bad enough, what they claim will 'pay for' the aid will actually add $12.5 billion to the deficit, nearly doubling the bill's total cost.” 

The Senate will also vote today on an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to strip $25 billion of enforcement funds from the IRS, which would reduce federal revenues by $49 billion over the next 10 years and add $24 billion to the deficit, according to another estimate from CBO.  The IRS has already used the enforcement funds provided by Democrats in the Inflation Reduction Act to retrieve $160 million from wealthy tax cheats this year. 

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