in response the irs adopted the following mission. five americas taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax rule with integrity and fairness. in 2009 no public discussion or notice to congress or to myself, the irs quietly changed its mission statement to read and enforce the tax law which integrity and fairness to all. >> the shift in tone and emphasis from applying to enforcing the law suggest irs leadership has agreed with the congressional directive and decided to place greater emphasis on enforcement in the mission statement. accordingly i recommend congress require the irs to provide positions to reemphasize a noncoercive approach to tax administration and explicitly affirm the role of taxpayer rights in the guiding principle for tax administration. >> of course congress has passed three important taxpayer rights bills including ra 98 and in my testimony i highlight provisions that irs has congress has enacted that the irs is either not implemented , or fi

and last year the irs learned that there were risks to the way that people were getting access to irs data through this fafsa system. and while they tried to work with the department of education over time, they learned what the irs needed for the pro section of that data the department of education couldn't put into their system. and they had to make -- they gave several workarounds and those workarounds weren't able to be implemented by the doe. >> was the problem on the department of education part? >> it was my understanding it was on the level of -- you know, the types of systems that doe has. and we were setting very high standards for access to that information. and so the irs had to really felt, according to their risk analysis that they had to stand down. and now they've just put it back up again, they've worked through some issues. but i think that it's going -- this is where you have some difficulty where you have one agency and another agency and you need to get them together. >> what's your sense? is the department of education collaborating and cooperating with the irs?

, sir taxpayer assistance in dealing with the ir is the 'as we consider forms tots irs we should keep this right as well as well as the other nine in line. >> i look order in to working with the ranking member mr. lewis and other members of the committees to make the irs a 21st century agency. >> i want to thank ms. olson for being here today. she's been a champion for taxpayers for many years and her insight on this topic will be valuable. >> i look forward to her testimony. i know yield to the distinguished ranking member mr. lewis for the purposes of an opening statement. >> good morning, mr. chairman. i thank you very much for holding this hearing with the national taxpayer advocate. and i want to thank ms. olson for being here and for her many years of service. i would also like to thank our members for being here. i know for some of us this is a little early. >> i agree. >> but we're here. mr. chairman, we must approach the important matter of reforming and improving the internal revenue service with a great deal of care. we must remain focused on doing what is right and what is

should the irs use the data? to pay folks for the data as you suggest, shouldn't they use it or should they shut down the program? if they don't plan to use it. that is doubly disturbing. >> i don't think they should shut down the program. they need to use the data and i will look carefully at the gao audit because i think that is a plan for how the irs could use it, the irs needs to be an organization that uses the data that it has, it doesn't develop strategies based on the data or takes a long time to get into operation and that is inexcusable. >> listening to your answer to the question on technology and the irs, the irs has difficulty with technology in basic functions, this is right above the basic function, perhaps triply disturbing now that ms. delbene asked the probing question. >> i think the irs is challenged in a lot of ways. >> the understatement of the day, i yield back. >> i recognize the gentleman from new york, mister crowley. >> thank you for holding this hearing today, thank you for participati

shouldn't the irs use the data. it will pay folks for the data with your suggestion, shouldn't they use it? or just shut down the program if there's a plan to use it? >> i don't think they should shut down the program. they need to use the data. i will look carefully at the gao audit because that gives a plan on how the irs could use it. think it needs to be an organization that uses the data it has. often it doesn't develop strategies for takes a long time to get it into operation. that's inexcusable. >> listening to your answer to the question on technology in the irs, it seems like the irs has difficulty with technology and its basic functions. this is certainly above it to makes it perhaps more disturbi disturbing. >> i think the irs is challenged in a lot of ways. >> that's an understatement of the day. i'll back. >> i now recognize the gentleman from new york. >> thank you. thank you missiles and for participating. recently my good friend and colleague, john lewis introduced a bill, the taxpayer protection act

the irs are working and not just reacting better. student aid is an area where we have been concerned of the ability of bad actors or fraudulently obtaining fraudulent. in investing the incident this year involving the dor, we found data used was in some case used to attempt our return. our strengthen fraud filters stopped a significant number of questionable tax returns by filers who accessed the dot. we are working to determine whether any of those returns are in fact fraudulent. our analysis of the suspicious activities involving the drt found of 1,000 individuals may have had their taxpayers information compromised. we have indication that a large number of these taxpayers are of a likelihood did not have any information compromised. we have mailed letters to all taxpayers. they can take steps to secure their data. we also offer them free credit monitoring. along with notifying taxpayers, the arrest is marking accounts and providing information against theft. we recognize that many families trying to apply for student aid have bee

we and the irs have a front row seat. every day we receive an average of 1 million attempts to penetrator systems. identity theft continues to be a major threat. my first became concerned with the level of authentication we assess the risk to determine if we should shut down the application. our practice has been to shut down the application of concern until we have mitigated the risk. in prior situations no other agency was involved. the situation was different. the department of information was part of the success of the program. we would not make a decision to shut down the application without that of the department of education in the process. we raise the level of the department of education and we discussed this can be done at either the department of education website. the department of education needed to have a user-friendly solution in place. this made it undesirable to implement a solution that will cost about 70% of applicants to be unable to complete the process. we continue to collaborate with the department

and on 27, the irs told you this is real. they don't comply with the law until congress within a week, they wait 38 days to tell us. not supposed to be how it works. >> doesn't sound so. >> the irs is treating taxpayers the way they are not supposed to and it is why this committee has been focused on trying to clean up the mess and i have been focused on saying mister koskinen has to go. i yells back. >> thank you, mister jordan. miss plaskett recognized for five minutes. >> i think the lovely chairwoman for the opportunity to speak. thank you for being here. everyone on both sides of the aisle are concerned about this issue. most of us have children and have our own student loans or loans, as well as constituents. i did want to touch on something a few minutes ago, talking about lawsuits, this is a lawsuit, and a lower default rate with loan companies and have propensity to loan to a minority and underserved communities. >> the default rate of students who have loans is significantly lower than other loan companies. >> i will

all hate the irs to ok, we all hate the irs. seven of people there so they can do the job and serve the taxpayers that israel gathered questions and to come and particularly deserve to catch the people that a conjugate tax credits that they don't deserve. >> senator cohen the irs is a revenue generating arm of the federal government. it needs the resources necessary to all people comply with their tax obligations. there are studies that show the easier you make it to comply with your taxes, the more likely people are to do so. but if i may just take one quik minute because in response to a statement by the chairman and by senator peters about multiple refines going to tens of thousands of addresses, and response to our identifying this, the irs has instituted some changes and they just reported to us that in april of this year they were able to stop over 92,000 of these ill-gotten gains, almost a half a billion dollars. >> and by the way, i've been making this point quite some time. the real solution here is simple find the tax c

congress likes to call in the irs and rate their officials. when i was covering congress, they did it every year. i thought it was one of the funniest moments of the year on capitol hill. paper 8 -- they great the tax -- they taxte the irs because the code is obligated, but congress wrote it. john koskinen was 78 years old and barack obama had to talk him into taking this job. he does not care about snippy young congressman. i have seen them on the hill. when they complain about some complex section of the code, he says, i did not write it, congressman, that is your work. host: what they were upset about was the lois lerner thing. guest: and the lost emails, which does seem dubious, but i don't think -- why would he lie about it? he was not there when it happened. host: you write in your book about the heritage foundation and the heritage action for america, and i don't -- i looked up center for american progress. heritage on the right, american progress on the left. they have the center for american progress action fund. they are under two dif

i hate the irs, i hate the threat of the irs, i hate the penalties, and now somebody just wants to practiceheir faith and the irs has the power to tax them? that is a bad thing. hopefully, one day, we get rid of the irs. steve: thank you for the call. father frank with priests for life has also issued a statement on president trump's executive order. it reads in part "the right to act on one's religious beliefs is not unlimited but the federal government, by law, is severely forcected in what it can churches or religious individuals to do. over the last eight years the obama administration ignore those restrictions, seeking to impose its will. no more. trump's executive order is resetting a principal that has historically guided the federal government and protected our rights." father frank weighing in on the order. here is background on the johnson amendment. that video is available on our website at c-span.org. let's watch. >> i will get rid of and totally destroy the johnson amendment. an amendment pushed by lyndon johnson many years ago. >> president donald trump his eyes set on the joh

>> it is critical we invest in the infrastructure at the irs. to make sure we have the technology looking across agencies i will even comment with fiscal service areas where treasury touches almost every single reseat payment. >> speaking for myself as we reform the irs i truly believe we should allocate more resources to the agency to help the minister the tax code in our country. >> mr. secretary things for taking time to appear today to address the fiscal year budget i hope they can find ways to work to gather but i have to begin by saying i am disappointed and almost offended that you are selling us on the budget proposal in the testimony said if we devote the right policies today our children and grandchildren will reap the benefits of the ever growing economy. i cannot agree more about where you lose me this is almost every single line item in this budget as that is a clear reflection of our priorities and these are his priorities then i am appalled they should be clear to create an environment for good paying jobs offering children a chanc

but the irs has not been enforcing this, and they have not been investigating even pastors -- >> you know, reverend, i always say the christian right needs to lead the right chis christians. now the threat, some of your colleagues in pastoring, i preach everywhere, but you pastor with a major church, they can't even say to y i'm afraid what the irs may do. that's gone by the optics. >> if the it's really relaxed, this is regulatory relief, if the it's relaxed, it gives some pastors a right to step into it even more. i heard one person say what the president said on thursday was an elaborate photo op without a real outcome, but the language the can free up spaces. frankly, african american churches have been people speaking for years. few have done direct endorsement from the pulpit. like when i ran. the thinking is they might not go after the white evangelicals, but they will come after the african american churches that breech the johnson amendment. >> i know you have to get to church and sara has to get to work. thank you both senior pastor of first corinthian and sara pozner. thank

but the ig says the irs is refusing to require people to have a social security number to collect theitional child tax credit. the ig says that gives an incentive for widespread fraud. in 2001, people without social security numbers collected $62 million in additional child tax credit refunds. in 2005, that number jumped to $924 million. in 2015, it reached $3.4 billion. at a recent hearing, irs commissioner john koskinen told congress the agency is cracking down on all kinds of fraud. comm. koskinen: the new requirement to hold earned income tax credit, child tax credit returns, and another change enacted by congress to accelerate the filing date of forms w2, together have helped the irs spot incorrect or fraudulent returns. sharyl: this week, chairman of the homeland security committee ron johnson sent a letter asking the treasury department "review the irs's refusal to prevent fraudulent overpayments." next week, an update on our investigation into a baffling illness responsible for nightmarish scenarios. the disease mimics one of the world's most feared illnesses, polio. millions

on the irs, as i did say, have spent now a bunch of time with the irs, looking at things. i will tell you one of my biggest focuses -- i do have a technology background -- is upgrading the technology at the irs. we are very, very focused, that we have underinvested in technology, and i am pleased to record that within the budget we will protect what are big increases in technology in the irs, and we will offset them? what we hope are savings and other areas, and obviously we were looking to cut government spending, and i'm pleased that we protected the irs. there will other people who wanted to cut it more, and we're very comfortable with the spending level and some save examination big technology investments there. >> senator isaacson. >> i want to associate myself with the confidence mr. crappo made about your willingness to come to this committee testify and your job has been a breath of fresh air and we appreciate it. and also to acknowledge that sherrod brown is the best yes or no question asker and one question is about social security. and want to follow up by makin

what's the latest. >> this is a big one because in march as we told you the irs abruptly took down a vital link on the fasa website, the data retrieval sight that allows students and parents input their tax information for federal aid. the house committee held a hearing asking for an update on that data breach and when that link would be available on the website. so here is what we've learned. the department of education and the irs is aiming to have the link back up and available to applicants by the end of this month. also coming out of the hearing today, a tax administration official said when the irs alerted the department of education of t department of ed disagreed saying it was legitimate activity and kept that link active. house lawmakers came down so hard on both agencies for taking too long to remove the link. >> we did not take lightly the decision to disable the drt tool. we knew that doing so had the potential to disrupt millions of students applying for federal financial aid. even sow i believe we made a sound decision one which would protect the data of approximately 17

what we have found in the abuse of the irs scandal is they had something to be afraid of. this shows up in many different ways. i would meningitis it more specifically later. but it is not an accident. that the state department missed the arab spring, the iranian revolution, the growth of isis because they don't take religion seriously except as a problem and because they don't take it seriously they miss it when it a problem. >> square this with the rulings on the executive order on immigration which treated that as providing a religious test. >> well, you know, there is not much writing about what a religious test is. i think jordan wrote well about this. the executive order is not a religion test. i would probably not have written it that way because the bad guys are not necessarily coming from the countries he identified. but if you were going to write one with laser precision which is basically what equal protection is about we have to admit we are not looking for quakers coming across the border. how do you write an order like this is the question? as i have told peop

and for domest pic politicals purposeses just like it did the irs. it is consistent that the administration that used irs against political opponents would use the intelligence system to also spy domesticaly on their opponents. this had is abuse of power and authority like we have never seen in this country. >> lou: part of this rest with the fisa court calling it a lack of candor. >> it is contempt and there should have been u.s. marshals taking the various attorneys who made misrepresentation in to custody. there has to be a hard ball approach and not just talk it away. there are members of the gang of eight on the hill i believe have guilty knowledge of this. this went on for years. and expansion on authority that was reckless is the best word. >> lou: i am going to further this in terms of what it represen represents. it represents fanatical attempt on the part of the left on president trump and first his transition team and then his administration. this is a grouch eight -- group of eight powerful men and women in the congress and senate who have

his gotten a letter from the irs to be audited and he had to spend lot of money of donor's money to epare for that audit. that is not a coincidence they both came on the same day. this was a huge step for the evangelicals who, in the last eight years, have been targeted against the obama administration. >> sissy, what do you say to the argument some people make this is nothing more than a protection from the irs for religious groups? >> i think this is just a message sent by the president in a strong voice for us. i'm always for that more can be done to protect our religious freedoms. but i'm thankful for this voice and for the stand he has taken. >> sarah, the acl, executive order anthony romero had a statement and said that this order was, quote, an elaborate photo op with no discernible policy outcome. do you get the sense he believes in this action or the possible intention is shut down the remnants of the obama administration? >> i think we can look to the president's past hundred days which have been very anti-women and very anti-lgbtq and it 125r9ed started on his first day, i

on the irs, as i did say, i have spent now a bunch of time with the irs, looking at things. i will tell you one of my biggest focus and i do have a technology background, is upgrading the technology at the irs. we are very, very focused that we've underinvested in technology, and i am pleased to report that within the budget, we will protect what are big increases in the technology in the irs and we will offset them in what we hope are savings in other areas, and obviously, we were looking to cut government spending, and i'm pleased that we protected the irs. there were other people who wanted to cut it more, and we're very comfortable with the spending level and some savings and big technology investments there. >> senator isakson. >> mr. mnuchin, i want to associate myself with the comments mr. crapo made about your willingness to come and testify and it's been a breath of fresh air. she a sherrod brown is the best one question, yes or no asker and one of his questions was about social security and i want to follow it up, not by challenging mr. brown but by making a point.

time is 26 minutes after the top of the hour. irss, testifying in the tea party targeting scandal puts them in grave danger. >> you need a sperm donor or surrogate? there's an apps for that. the story coming up. ♪ are you going to be my girl ♪ ♪ shine on ♪ shine on ♪ ♪ >> a beautiful view looking south from manhattan. jon: it is half past the top of the hour and it did not happen. the white house shredding the washington post report the donald trump leaked classified information to the russians. >> christians has new developments from overnight. >> the white house flatly denying the report the president revealed classified information in an oval office meeting with russian officials. h r mc master telling reporters it simply did not happen. >> the story that came out tonight is false. at no time, at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. i was in the room, it didn't happen. >> the host site current and us officials who say

. >> the order protects and promotes religious liberties, directing the irs to ease enforcement of themendment, thus giving churches more leeway when it comes to political speech and activities. it also eases the obamacare mandates for religious objectors to preventative services. including religious employers like the little sisters of the poor, the group at the center of a lawsuit objecting to obamacare rules on contraception. us to go i want you to know your long ordeal will soon be over. >> the president orders the irs to alleviate the burden of the johnson amendment. 1954 provision that prohibits nonprofits from endorsing or opposing political candidates. proponents say it prevents unfair political contributions. critics say it restricts free speech. some advocates for religious liberty think the order fell short of the mark. >> we were pleased with the tenor of the president's remarks, acknowledgment of u.s. freedom and conscience are among the most important things. we are a little disappointed there wasn't more concreteness. >> the aclu said it would sue the administration but

exchange the important data between a retiree, a federal retire rhee with the social security and the irs for the tax purposes there where are that underlying thing would still be coated and still be exchanging through the social security number. but again the communication that goes out to the federal retiree benefit say different number there. we do do that today for retirement services where you get a different control number when you become a federal retiree and that's how all ks is tracked back to you. >> mr. chairman -- >> in terms of the money. >> i'm sorry. >> to change the systems, it is -- we're operating systems today and just as cms probably kmernsed you need the infusion of money do coding and other changes and testing as you prepare this parallel highway, if you will, of how we're doing it there. >> thank you. mr. chairman, may i just add this into the record. i heard from one of our members, and i need to correct the record, said that the president's budget does not cut social security benefits but it does. in the budget, it cuts social security disability by up to $64 bill

the irs rule known as the johnson amendment says churches and other nonprofits risk losing tax exempt status if they support candidates. such as covering birth control. >>> fbi director jachls comey for more testimony regarding last year's election. yesterday as jeff pegues reports, comey told the senate committee he would not change his decision to appeal the reopening of the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. >> this is terrible. it makes me mildly nauseous. >> reporter: fbi director james comey changed his decision. discovery was made on a computer clinton aide huma abedin shared with his husband. he said he had no good options. >> i thought it would be really bad. there's an election in 11 days. lordy, that would be bad. as between really bad and catastrophic, i said to my team, we've got to walk into of really bad. >> reporter: agents ultimately determined that abadin revealed e-mails to her husband of classified information but comey said they could not prove criminal intent and could not recommend charges against abadin, anthony wewiener, or cl. >> reporter: candidates press

it was four years ago when the irs targeting scandal broke, it had been in the news for several weeks. i asked him a series of questions and he couldn't answer anything about the investigation it was at that time the most important story in the country. you had an agency with the power and might of the irs targeting people for exercising their free speech rights. he couldn't tell me who the agents were on the case. the president at the time said it was critically important. attorney general holder said we would get to the bottom of it. kennedy: do you think that is obstruction or incompetence? >> i don't know. the one interaction i had was very disappointing. so we'll see. what i do know is, i want to get all the information. i want to get the full comey memo. not just that memo, i would like to know, did mr. comey also memorialize conversations he had with key department officials maybe it day after loretta lynch meets with bill clinton on the tarmac. the day thee decide to give cheryl mills immunity deals. kennedy: do you think they will turn over some of those memoranda to congress

this executive order directs the irs not to unfairly target churches and religious organizations for no one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors. i know one thing. it never stopped dr. ben carson. he said the heck with the johnson amendment, right, ben? i've been with ben, and he did what he wanted todo, but not everybody is going to do that, ben, you know that, right? we do not fear people speaking freely from the pulpit, we embrace it. america has a rich tradition or social change beginning in our pews and pulpits. perhaps there is no greater example than the example of the african-american church as the agent for social progress, sparing our nation of justice and equality. progress from the fpew. thank you thank you. under my administration, free speech does not and the steps of a cathedral or synagogue. we are giving our churches our voices back. and we're giving them back in the highest form. with this executive order, we make clear that the federal government will never ever penalize any person for their protected religious believes. that is why i am, today, directi

is incorporating technology at the irs we are very focused we have under invested in technology i am pleased to report with the budget we will protect the increases and offset them with savings of other areas. looking to cut government spending there are other people who wanted to cut it more there were some savings as technology investment. >> the comments about your willingness to come testify the job so far has been great in the appreciated to. one of the questions was about social security is about making a point with a $20 trillion debt?. >> yes. >> undermost man off 10 years from now is 1,304,000,000,000,000 because of the growth of social security and other measures. >> don't have the exact numbers but a understand you are saying. >> the economist went to raise the cost however if you look at 1983 winner reagan and tip o'neill raise the eligibility age of lost one your social security. but my point is to read calibrate the formula in the algiers you can recover that over time to advertise so want 2.0 we don't want to raise the cost for anyone but to recalibrate the formula in

to see the ir gc now in a syria that's their modus operandi. they'll find a way to create the syrian hezbollah and little clones that will follow in lebanese model. when you start talking about new technologies about us for hundreds or sc3 hundreds those take money in those take training, which is another way of saying it's a conventional capability but it would certainly change your thinking especially if you talk about the as/400. that is a part of their layers of trying to prove their capable of handling anything that we have. it's a sobering problem when you start thinking about the kind of the volume of fire that they could generate. that makes you a very intensive reader of warnings and indications. if you're walking down the street and you're in a tough neighborhood and it's dark and there are people around you that you don't trust, you're in a oneness stands. if you're happy-go-lucky and some just walks up to you and ask you and you're not ready for it, it's our job to be the ones that are ready for whatever may come. >> i'd look at the

according to the irs, the average tax refund given this year was $2,763.p 2% from last year. as of late april, the irs dolled out more than $268 billion in refunds to 97 million americans. pays to get it in early. >>> the president got in hot water after a misstatement regarding the civil war this week. now "the new york times" has uncovered another inaccuracy after it was discovered that a trump golf course in virginia has an incorrect plaque commemorating the civil war, purportedly marking the river of blood where a deadly battle took place. experts say nothing like that ever occurred there, with one historian calling the plaque outright strange. the only battle to have taken place happened some 11 miles away. in a phone interview the president said, if people are crossing the river and you happen to be in a civil war, i would say that people were shot, a lot of them. >>> we have good news for new dads. more companies offering better paternity benefits to attract a new generation of male workers taking on child care responsibilities. parenting website fa

and then you see on in the other side of the spectrum, all the churches that are scared to death of the irs. and of course, what we have found in the abuse of the irs scandal is that they actually did have something to be afraid of. so, it's a -- this shows up in many different ways. i'll mention it a little more specifically later. but it's not an accident. the state department missed the arab spring, the iranian revolution then, breath over isis because the don't take religion seriously except as a problem and because the don't take it seriously they miss it when it is a problem. >> professor, square this with the rulings on the executive order on immigration, which treated that as providing a religious test. >> well, there's not much writing about what a religious test is. i'm one of four or five people. jerriy bradley from notre dame has written very succinctly and well about the topic of religious tests. the executive order is not a religious test. in the fact of the matter is, even -- i probably wouldn't have written it that way because the bad guys aren't necessarily coming from the

. >> on friday, the national taxpayer advocate testifies about changes made by the irs to help taxpayers. we have live coverage of the house ways and means subcommittee hearing, starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 2. you can also watch live on www.c-span.org, and on our free c-span radio app. on friday, a hearing on u.s. space assets and national security threats. we will be live with the house armed services subcommittee on strategic forces on c-span 3, www.c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. >>k day coverage of the book festival, starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern. maria olson on her book. goodman, author of "whistleblower at the cia." author sharon weinberger at 12 2 15, discussing her book "the nioneers of war." craig shirley on "reagan rising: the decisive years." at 2:15, sidney blumenthal, author of "wrestling with his anthrops." freeman:15, sally mann on the jersey brothers, a missing naval officer in the pacific and hisily's ques to brie. tch live, yover stiv on an 2' book tv.

hunt is the way you might have approached lois lerner or how the media approached lois lerner and the irs scandal. if that's the opposite of a witch hunt. nobody bothered to hunt anythin anything. >> jesse: if you're on the defensive, your shredding documents and withholding information from congress, a holder was held in contempt of congress four. hillary destroyed a 30,000 emails, that's look a little defensive to me. >> juan: after all of the republican probes and hearings, anything? >> jesse: that's why he was fired because he botched that investigation. >> greg: you're laughing at the same argument you used on him. you're saying there's no there there because there hasn't been an investigation. >> juan: i said there was an unvested emma and extensive endless investigation of the benghazi, and irs. if >> kimberly: president trump today also denied that he shut down the fbi investigation against his former national security advisor, michael flynn. >> did you at any time urge former fbi director james comey to close or back down the investigation into michael flyn flynn. >> president tr

it was four years ago when the irs targeting scandal broke, it had been in the news for several weeksked him a series of questions and he couldn't answer anything about the investigation it was at that time the most important story in the country. you had an agency with the power and might of the irs targeting people for exercising their free speech rights. he couldn't tell me who the agents were on the case. the president at the time said it was critically important. attorney general holder said we would get to the bottom of it. kennedy: do you think that is obstruction or incompetence? >> i don't know. the one interaction i had was very disappointing. so we'll see. what i do know is, i want to get all the information. i want to get the full comey memo. not just that memo, i would like to know, did mr. comey also memorialize conversations he had with key department officials maybe it day after loretta lynch meets with bill clinton on the tarmac. the day thee decide to give cheryl mills immunity deals. kennedy: do you think they will turn over some of those memoranda to congress and d

the oversight committee held a hearing on the irs data breach where bad actors act into the department of education's income information from my financial aid application and use that information to file fraudulent tax returns with the irs. all the agencies that came before us today attain a wealth of information on americans, particularly social security numbers. it's essential that we reduce the use of social security numbers on printed forms and electronically in transition. in fact, tomorrow the house is scheduled to consider representative about details social security fraud prevention act of 2016 which was passed on voice boot and prohibits agencies from sending numbers by mail unless the head of the agency teams it necessary. >> social security administration has over hundred 75 million wage earners and record on pretty much everybody living and dead. and a treasure trove of information. the veterans administration has held records on 8 million veterans and their families. i can imagine few of the records as infinite as an individual's record. the va currently uses social securi

now, the order is aimed at the irs. here is a tax rule that says non-profit organizations risk loosing their tax-exempt status if they endorse or oppose political candidates. the rule is not enforce the very often. the president's order will direct the irs to use maximum discretion over enforcement. >>> hour time is 4:14. the u.s. senate is expected to vote today on the 1.1 trillion-dollar federal budget passed yesterday by the house. it includes $593 billion for the u.s. military but no money for president trump's promised border wall with mexico. the white house says the president will sign the bill to fund the u.s. government through the end of september. this budget includes $53 billion for foreign aid including famine relief and humanitarian programs, more than $400 million to fight western wildfires, $10 million for california's earthquake warning system. and 100 million for cal train considered a key part of the high-speed rail project. >>> james comey will be back on capitol hill this morning to testify before th

>> paul, millions, i mean, this has been a full employment act for tax attorneys to fight the irs at of tens of millions of dollars that could have been used to feed the poor, to spread the gospel, to heal families and marriages, to get people off drugs and alcohol and that money has gone to keep the right of people of faith to defend their first amendment rights and there's no reason for that kind of harassment. look, if there's a problem in american politics today, if there's a problem with our civic discourse, it's not being caused because people of faith are raising their voices, whether it was the civil rights movement in the 60's or the pro-life and profamily movement in more recent times. this is a bright thread in the fabric of political discourse that we should be encouraging and not discouraging. paul: let me ask you another objection that folks on the right have raise it doesn't go far enough to defend people of conscious, a photographer, cake-maker who says, my religion says i can't serve at a gay wedding, for example, that there's no protections in this order for them an

steve: remember lois learner supposed lost emails during the investigation of the irs targeting of teaeam media gave the obama administration a pass back then. so why is the trump administration held to what seems like a different standard? joining us now from the tea party patriots a group targeted by the irs, jenny beth martin who joins us from our nation's capital. good morning, jenny beth. >> good morning, steve. thanks for having me. steve: you feel like given what is happening right now with the department of justice and whatnot, you're curious where they were with the irs scandal. >> yeah. frankly i was glad to see comey go, as far as i know he didn't lift one financing tore get to the bottom of what happened with the irs targeting. and we have seen that there was obstruction of justice from what i can tell during that investigation. certainly, we never have had accountability from the justice department or the fbi. steve: what kind of obstruction of justice are you talking about? >> well, we had even the president of the united states at the time, president obama, getting on na

over 60 years ago, the irs went after one of the greatest leaders in history. reverend martin luther king jr. it is a sobering reminder of the need for vigilance. the words of reverend king and other religious leaders have awakened the conscious of millions and millions of americans and inspired us to act in the name of peace, justice, freedom and charity. every president must work to protect and we have to do this, we have no choice to do this. this. we have absolutely no choice to protect these hard fought games. they have been hard fought. they have been fought for so many years with so many deck ka kads and so many centuries. this is a special day for that reason. that's why we are here today to defend the rights of all americans to honor our great constitution and to protect the sacred liberties given to us not by any earthly power but by our creator and heaven. [ applause ] >> i would like to thank all of you great religious leaders for being with us today. they know that today is a big day. we have a big vote coming up in a little while. i thought it is