The IRS is at risk of losing $20 billion in funding without legislative intervention

abcnews.go.com:

Already bracing for funding cuts under a new Trump administration, U.S. Treasury officials are calling on Congress to unlock $20 billion in IRS enforcement money that is tied up in legislative language that has effectively rendered the money frozen

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Already bracing for funding cuts under a new Trump administration, U.S. Treasury officials are calling on Congress to unlock $20 billion in IRS enforcement money that is tied up in legislative language that has effectively rendered the money frozen.

Hoping to unlock the funds in upcoming budget negotiations, Treasury officials are rushing for action before President Joe Biden's term ends.

The $20 billion in question is separate from another $20 billion rescinded from the agency last year. However, the legislative mechanism keeping the government afloat inadvertently duplicated the one-time cut.

Treasury officials warn of dire consequences if the funding is effectively rescinded through inaction. The loss of that money would lead to an increase of the national deficit by $140 billion, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on a call to reporters on Tuesday. There would be 6,000 fewer audits of wealthy individuals and 2,000 fewer audits of large corporations, and the agency would have to go on a hiring freeze, he said.

“The IRS is going to potentially have to make dramatic decisions about stopping hiring and starting to budget for a world which they don't have $20 billion which will stop a lot of their progress,” Adeyemo said. ”If they don't get that $20 billion that is at risk they would run out of enforcement money at the current pace sometime in fiscal year 2025."

Adeyemo was joined by Maya MacGuineas, president of Committee for a Responsible