After Larry Summers, Rob Reich Goes After House GOP Over IRS Funding Cut Plan: 'Already Trying To Gut Congressional Ethics'

After former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers questioned the House GOP’s intent to end “unnecessary” federal programs, which includes cutting down $80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has also sounded out his skepticism on the matter.

“Yes, the House GOP [is] in disarray. But don’t let any of it distract you from the GOP's enormously destructive agenda. They're already trying to gut Congressional ethics, rescind funds for the IRS to go after rich tax dodgers, and eliminate the Congressional Workers Union,” Reich tweeted.

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However, the Republicans cannot move ahead unless the new Speaker of the House has been decided upon and that debate is still continuing. Far-right lawmakers once again blocked Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) attempts to become speaker of the House on Wednesday in two separate voting sessions.

‘Once upon a time, GOP stood for limited government. In time, it became the party of “cultural conservatism.” Now, it’s a cauldron of bitterness, xenophobia, racism, homophobia & anti-intellectualism. Let's be clear: The Republican Party has lost any legitimate reason for being,' Reich tweeted.

Interestingly, this is the first time in a century that it has taken more than one ballot to elect a speaker.

Summers had voiced his concerns regarding rescinding the IRS funding. “I just learned @HouseGOP's first initiative may be to protect tax cheats by trying to rescind last year’s investment in IRS modernization. On what sane ground can they object to restoring audit rates for millionaires when they have fallen by ~80% in the last decade?” he questioned.

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