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GOP Call For Inquiry Of IRS Targeting Of Tea Party Groups

Republican lawmakers on Sunday called for a full investigation of the Internal Revenue Service after it was revealed Friday that it had singled out Tea Party and other conservative groups for heightened scrutiny in applications for tax-exempt status.

The IRS has apologized, and described the incident as a bureaucratic mistake carried out by low-level agency employees. Many, however, still say President Obama should personally apologize, an expected backlash.

"This is truly outrageous," Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said on CNN's State of the Union. "It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review. And I think that it's very disappointing that the president hasn't personally condemned this and spoken out."

Here's more from The New York Times:

"Ms. Collins questioned the way the I.R.S. had handled the issue. "If it had been just a small group of employees, then you would think that the high-level I.R.S. supervisors would have rushed to make this public, fired the employees involved and apologized to the American people and informed Congress," she said. "None of that happened in a timely way."

Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan, called for a larger look at the incident in an appearance on Fox News Sunday, saying it should "send a chill" up everyone's spine.

"I don't know where it stops or who is involved, whoever is involved, through a fact-based investigation, and it has to be external," Rogers said. "This is something that we cannot let stand."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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