He's Still There?! Republican Study Committee Calls on Trump to Fire Koskinen

John Kocksuckinman

He's Still There?! Republican Study Committee Calls on Trump to Fire Koskinen

A faction of conservatives is circumventing leadership brass and calling directly on President Trump to tell IRS Chief John Koskinen, "You're fired." 

Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., will make the ask. The chairman of the Republican Study Committee has quietly but urgently been circulating a letter inside the GOP conference to build support. He's now got 50 congressmen signed onto the letter. 

While Trump has fleshed out his cabinet, so far, he's stayed hush about the fate of the IRS chief. And conservatives really want Koskinen's head. 

"You have the authority to remove Commissioner Koskinen," Walker writes to Trump, adding that "we encourage you to dismiss him in the most expedient manner practicable." 

House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, first drew up impeachment articles against the taxman in October 2015. Since then, conservatives have accused Koskinen of interfering with a congressional investigation and abetting the of the continued targeting of conservative non-profits. 

Walker's letter reintroduces that issue in the new 115th Congress, slamming the IRS for "improperly targeting conservative groups" and failing to "demonstrate that officials have definitively ceased targeting conservative groups." And he's building on last year's failed impeachment effort launched by the House Freedom Caucus. 

"The consideration of the impeachment of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in the House in late 2016 was a clear indication that Congress and the American people have no confidence in Commissioner Koskinen or his ability to discharge his duties," Walker writes.