Connect with us

YOU CAN'T DO THAT

White House Now Claims IRS Will Pay Tax Refunds During Shutdown – Which Could Be Illegal

Published

on

The White House is scrambling to deal with President Trump’s shutdown, after several officials admitted the administration had no idea what shutting down the federal government would do.

Among those affected are over 800,000 federal workers, including many at the IRS, who will not be paid during the shutdown, now in the middle of its third week.

Others who will be affected are the nearly 39 million food stamp recipients, who need those funds to keep food on the table.

But the Trump administration is attacking the effects of the shutdown like a PR campaign, trying to change public perception of the impending crisis.

The White House has just announced, contrary to the IRS’s own plan, Americans will get their tax refunds during the shutdown, according to ABC News.

As Vox reported last week, the IRS plan was to furlough all but about 10,000 of its workers, (keeping just 12.5 percent of employees working) thus making processing tax refunds difficult, if not impossible.

Apparently, some of those furloughed will be required to come to work without getting paid – at least until the shutdown is over.

“IRS offices are closed, tax questions are not being answered and there was a concern that refunds to early-filers this year might not be issued on time if the shutdown drags on, financial experts said,” ABC News notes.

Meanwhile, some economists and experts are scratching their heads, wondering how Trump will accomplish paying out tax refunds during a federal government shutdown.

Here’s a former U.S. Treasury economist:

According to The Hill, the White House order “could be illegal.”

“Tax refunds will go out,” the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, told reporters Monday.

“But it remains unclear,” The Hill notes, “whether the administration has the legal authority to hand out refunds during the partial shutdown, which is now in its third week.”

The New York Times also reports that the IRS handing out refunds during a shutdown could be illegal.

“Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee said they began to see indications over the weekend that the White House was looking for a legal justification to reverse existing policy and allow refunds to be issued,” The Times reports. “But committee lawyers believe the law prohibits such a move, because refunds are paid out of the government’s general fund.”

“We keep trying to call people at I.R.S. and Treasury,” said Daniel Rubin, a spokesman for the Ways and Means Committee, “and there’s no one there.”

 

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

YOU CAN'T DO THAT

‘They Have Something on Him’: Trump Calls for McConnell to Be ‘Impeached’ (Which is Not Possible)

Published

2 years ago

on

November 3, 2022

By

Donald Trump, now relegated to a far-right streaming video website as larger right-wing outlets like Fox News distance themselves from him, is now calling for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to be impeached.

A Real America’s Voice host interviewing the former president, who is under several civil and criminal investigations, said, “Democrats are scheming, probably with some of the RINOs, in order to blow the debt ceiling up.”

“RINOs” is a right-wing derogatory term for “Republican in Name Only.”

The host was likely referring to a call to eliminate the debt ceiling, meaning the House and Senate would no longer have to vote to approve a debt limit increase.

“Um, what is your position on that?” the host asked.

READ MORE: Watch: Extremist Republicans Openly Attack Public Schools Teaching Science, Math, History and Social Studies to Kids

“It’s crazy, what’s happening with this debt ceiling,” Trump responded.

“Mitch McConnell keeps allowing them to have it,” the former president said in a manner that appears to exhibit his lack of understanding.

The debt ceiling, or debt limit, as the Treasury Dept. explains, “is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.”

Most importantly, it “does not authorize new spending commitments. It simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past.”

READ MORE: ‘Very Small World’: Bombshell Emails Raise New Questions About Ginni Thomas Contacts With John Eastman – WaPo Reporter

In other words, it’s not an authorization to spend more, it’s an authorization to pay the nation’s existing bills.

“Failing to increase the debt limit would have catastrophic economic consequences,” Treasury adds. “It would cause the government to default on its legal obligations – an unprecedented event in American history. That would precipitate another financial crisis and threaten the jobs and savings of everyday Americans – putting the United States right back in a deep economic hole, just as the country is recovering from the recent recession.”

Trump’s claim that “Mitch McConnell keeps allowing them to have it,” in actuality means that McConnell generally supports not shutting down the federal government by allowing his caucus to vote to increase the debt limit.

“I mean, they ought to impeach Mitch McConnell, if he allows that,” the 45th President said, again displaying his basic ignorance of government.

Senators cannot be impeached.

They can be reprimanded, censured, or even expelled, but not impeached.

Also, Trump signed several debt limit increases into law. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in January of 2020 reported Trump “signed into law $4.2 trillion of debt over a comparable budget window and $4.7 trillion from 2017 through 2029.”

“Frankly, Mitch McConnell, something has to be, they have something on him,” Trump insisted, not identifying who “they” are, or what they might “have” on him. “How he approves this thing is incredible.”

Watch below or at this link.

 

 

Continue Reading

YOU CAN'T DO THAT

DeSantis Administration Blows Off Court Ruling – Strips Funding From Schools Defying Unlawful Mask Mandate Ban

Published

3 years ago

on

August 30, 2021

By

The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is going ahead with plans to financially punish schools that defy his ban on mask mandates for students.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran withheld funds from the Alachua and Broward county school districts that are equivalent to the salaries paid to school board members’ salaries.

Both counties had defied DeSantis by implementing mask mandates and refused to back down in the face of the governor’s threats.

However, there is some question of whether the decision to withhold the funding from the schools will hold up in court.

“Corcoran’s announcement Monday came after Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper on Friday ruled that DeSantis’ overstepped his constitutional authority in issuing the executive order,” reports the Tampa Bay Times. “Cooper issued an injunction barring Corcoran, the Department of Education and the State Board of Education from enforcing DeSantis’ order. It was not clear Monday evening whether the announcement about withholding funds from the Alachua and Broward districts conflicts with Cooper’s ruling.”

Despite this, the Florida Department of Education released a statement Monday saying that “the withholding of funds will continue monthly until each school board complies with state law and rule.”

RELATED –
Florida Judge Shreds Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order Banning Mask Mandates: CDC Is ‘Gold Standard’

Continue Reading

YOU CAN'T DO THAT

Madison Cawthorn Attacks Dr. Fauci: ‘We Want to Prosecute This Guy to the Full Ability of the Law’

Published

3 years ago

on

July 22, 2021

By

U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying House Republicans will “prosecute” the esteemed immunologist and director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), as a “pawn of the Chinese Communist Party” and for lying to Congress.

There is no evidence either of those claims are true.

Speaking to former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, the host of “Just the Truth” on the Real America’s Voice website, Cawthorn falsely claimed Dr. Fauci has “directly lied to Congress,” echoing a claim made by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) on Wednesday. Ellis, who claims to be a “constitutional law attorney,” did not mention to Cawthorn that the House of Representatives does not have the power to criminally prosecute.

“I’ll tell you when we take the majority back in 2022, I’ll make sure consequences are doled out,” Cawthorn promised. “But we want to prosecute this guy to the full ability of the law because I’ll tell you to lie to the American people just to get your name in the news just to see your face on the cover of books just to get fame or fortune, I’ll tell you, Dr. Anthony Fauci does not deserve either fame or fortune.”

On Wednesday Cawthorn told Newsmax, “I think we should indict Jill Biden.”

Watch:

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.