Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior member of the Finance Committee with Senate jurisdiction over the IRS, today made the following comment on the employment status of Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS tax-exempt division in the middle of a debacle over the targeting of certain tax-exempt groups.
"My understanding is the new acting IRS commissioner asked for Ms. Lerner's resignation, and she refused to resign. She was then put on administrative leave instead. From all accounts so far, the IRS acting commissioner was on solid ground to ask for her resignation. She was the head of the division that the inspector general found inappropriately targeted groups over their political associations. She had an opportunity to disclose the targeting to Congress days before her disclosure at a legal conference and didn't do it. Then she gave the impression that the issue came up independently at the conference, when it really was a plant that she arranged. The IRS owes it to taxpayers to resolve her situation quickly. The agency needs to move on to fix the conditions that led to the targeting debacle. She shouldn't be in limbo indefinitely on the taxpayers' dime."
More information on Lois Lerner's lack of disclosure of the targeting is available here
