It's been a full week for Administration officials testifying on Capitol Hill: Internal Revenue Service Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano appearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tax Day (April 15), Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought at the House and Senate budget committees April 15-16, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a House Appropriations subpanel April 16, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at the House Ways and Means Committee April 16.

The Finance Committee tax hearing was wide-ranging, but most of the attention focused on Bisignano's vow to audit wealthy taxpayers even with a reduced IRS workforce. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned what he said is the Administration's reduction in interest in auditing the very wealthy, and what he said is a reduction in audits for those with $10 million in income or more. Bisignano restated that enforcement revenue is up and pledged, "We will go after every bad actor." Senator Whitehouse additionally suggested business audits would be down with the large business and international division losing nearly 20% of its staff, but Bisignano said IRS has leaned more heavily on technology. "I'm going to always ensure that we have the right number of staff to get every job done," he said.

Bisignano repeatedly said enforcement revenue is up 12% over the year prior, and members asked about the agency's use of technology. "I think none of us likes taxes. I think it's really important that we're enforcing our tax law and that people aren't cheating on their taxes," Senator Todd Young (R-IN) said. "So, I know the IRS often finds itself up against very sophisticated and well-resourced taxpayers that may or may not be attempting to abuse tax rules, hence the importance of effectively identifying cases to audit." Bisignano said technology is used for data comparison that otherwise would have been done by hand. More information can be found in this WCEY Tax Alert.

During Wednesday's appearance at the House Budget Committee, OMB Director Vought suggested the Administration's tax cuts are beneficial to the economy because, "when you continue to have good tax policy, revenues are going to go up, and we expect [them] to be higher than their historical average with the extension of the tax cuts that were done with the One Big Beautiful Bill." President Trump has traveled to Nevada and Arizona this week to tout the benefits of last year's law, part of a broader Administration PR messaging effort on taxes. "We are trying to get the word out to the American people, because Congress did so much in that bill, so much that helps the American people," Vought said. "We want to explain that working family tax cut at every opportunity that we possibly can, so that they're aware of what they're going to see in their tax returns."

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) criticized profitable companies that she said pay no tax, compared to the 14.5% average tax rate paid by the middle class plus expenses mounting from the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits. "Thanks to stripping healthcare from Americans, the middle 60% of Americans will pay $900 more on average than before Trump came in and created chaos with tariffs and healthcare and tax law that benefited the wealthiest," she said.

During his appearance at the Senate Budget Committee, Vought bemoaned the lack of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as Republicans lay the groundwork for a GOP-only bill for multi-year funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies and a bipartisan measure to fund the rest of DHS. "We need reconciliation to fill those two holes. But as of right now, [DHS] is disintegrating because the Secretary and I are having to figure out ways to temporarily fund peoples' paychecks so that we don't have people quit and embark on new careers," he said.

During Ambassador Greer's appearance at the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, he said, "The President's trade program continues, despite the Supreme Court's decision in February relating to IEEPA tariffs. Within hours, the President maintained continuity in the trade program by imposing a temporary 10% tariff on all trading partners under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 … The combination of tariffs and deals continues to restore our economic competitiveness by expanding export markets and protecting our domestic production."

Tax — Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) on April 16 continued introducing tax bills on issues he has long been targeting with the Ending the Carried-Interest Loophole Act, to tax carried interest as ordinary income and prevent re-characterization of income by requiring fund managers to recognize their annual compensation that would be taxed as ordinary income. Under the bill, a fund manager's compensation income is taxed like wages on an employee's W-2, subject to ordinary income rates and self-employment taxes.

Agenda — In the Senate, the current work plan is for a budget resolution allowing consideration of a narrow ICE/CBP reconciliation bill to be on the Senate floor as soon as next week. The effort is challenged by some skepticism that a follow-on third reconciliation bill would come to fruition, meaning members are hesitant to put their other priorities on the backburner. And there are concerns that ICE/CBP funding alone doesn't have sufficient appeal to achieve Republican consensus. Punchbowl News April 15 cited House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) as saying funds for ICE and Border Patrol "aren't really popular things" with Americans. "If you're going to pass a reconciliation bill, it needs to be one that addresses the concerns of the American people, and affordability is the concern I hear more than anything," he said.

The House this week has been considering, among other issues, legislation to extend Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities, and H. Res. 1156, by Ways and Means Member Mike Kelly (R-PA), a resolution supporting tax policies that support working families, which was approved 219-207.