WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following months of oversight work by the Ways and Means Committee, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel informed employees in a new memo on Friday of their constitutional and statutory right to make protected disclosures to Congress. Previous communications by the agency to employees may have had a chilling effect on whistleblowers, as they failed to inform them that their rights included sharing concerns directly to Congress. A recent letter from attorneys for Hunter Biden may have had a similar effect for calling into question whether it was appropriate for these employees to come to Congress with their concerns.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement about the IRS’s move to comply with the law following months of the Committee’s oversight work.
“The importance of informing whistleblowers about their rights under the law is vital. The Ways and Means Committee has been conducting rigorous oversight of the extremely troubling allegations of retaliation against the IRS whistleblowers who made disclosures to the Committee, which includes inquiries about communications to IRS employees that neglected to tell employees about their rights to make such disclosures. The IRS must be clear with its employees that they have a constitutional and statutory right to make protected disclosures to Congress. Period. Full stop. Any guidance that does not communicate their ability to do so are chilling...
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