The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been in the news quite a bit recently which usually isn’t a good look for what is perhaps the government’s most reviled agency.
On the heels of the Biden plan to add 87,000 new IRS agents, the agency’s hiring practices and job listings are coming under closer scrutiny.
A job listed recently for a position as a “Special Agent” in the enforcement division listed requirements of the applicant being able and willing to carry a firearm and use deadly force when necessary.
The job listing has since been deleted following the uproar but the original details were quite alarming:
The IRS deleted a job posting Wednesday seeking a Special Agent “willing to use deadly force” for its law enforcement division, Criminal Investigation (CI). The deletion came amid renewed scrutiny of the IRS in response to a Democrat-backed spending bill that would double the size of the agency.
“As a Special Agent you will combine your accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes,” the job advertisement read.
“No matter what the source, all income earned, both legal and illegal, has the potential of becoming involved in crimes which fall within the investigative jurisdiction of the IRS Criminal Investigation. Because of the expertise required to conduct these complex financial investigations, IRS Special Agents are considered the premier financial investigators for the Federal government,” the job posting continued.
The “Major Duties” listed in the job description included “a level of fitness necessary to effectively respond to life-threatening situations on the job,” and being “willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments.”
For anyone who finds it hard to believe, screenshots of the original listing have been floating around on social media platforms this week.
Rep. Jody Hice (GA-10) flagged the listing and pointed out that some Americans are asking why a taxing agency needs a law enforcement division when the federal government already has the FBI:
The “Inflation Reduction Act” will deploy over 87,000 new IRS agents to carry out the far Left liberal agenda.
Here are 2 “major duties” for their new recruits that make absolutely ZERO sense:
1) Carry a firearm (WHY?)
2) Be willing to use deadly force (??!!) pic.twitter.com/tFmKraaPf9— Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) August 11, 2022
The revelation is not entirely new as the IRS has had an enforcement division for years but the agency is suddenly getting more attention as the federal bureaucracy continues to grow.
In response to the job posting gaining attention, the agency removed the listing on Monday and has not offered any comment on why it deleted the job or comment on what situations would result in a tax agent being asked to use deadly force on a target.
The story on the job listing also dovetails into another IRS story concerning the agency’s purchase of $700,000 in ammunition earlier this year:
Between March 1 and June 1, 2022, the criminal division of the IRS ordered $696,000 in ammunition, the IRS told VERIFY in an email.
The order was for the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) division, which is a federal law enforcement agency that conducts criminal investigations including tax violations, money laundering, cyber crimes, and organized crime involving drugs and gangs. There are more than 2,000 sworn special agents in the division.
“Many of these cases are typically worked in conjunction with other state and federal law enforcement agencies. IRS-CI special agents have been carrying firearms throughout the more than 100-year history of the agency, and have found themselves dealing with some of the most dangerous criminals,” an IRS spokesperson told VERIFY.
As one somewhat-popular Twitter user pointed out, the irony of the federal government adding 87,000 IRS agents is not lost on a country that fought a revolution over unjust taxation:
Fate ? Irony pic.twitter.com/RHZ9BEws7k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2022
