GOP Bill to Slash IRS Funding Approved by House Panel (1)

July 21, 2025, 10:43 PM UTCUpdated: July 21, 2025, 11:06 PM UTC

A House Republican spending bill that would cut the IRS budget by $2.8 billion advanced out of a House Appropriations subcommittee Monday.

The 9-6 party-line vote is the latest hit to the beleaguered tax agency, which has seen major leadership churn and a mass exodus of staff this year as the White House slashes the federal workforce.

The bill advanced by the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee to the full Appropriations panel would fund the IRS at $9.5 billion for fiscal year 2026, compared with the current $12.3 billion in annual funding for this fiscal year.

Democrats at the markup blasted the IRS enforcement cuts, saying they would result in wealthy individuals and corporations avoiding paying taxes.

Enforcement would see the biggest cut, getting $3 billion, down from $5.4 billion in fiscal 2025.

House lawmakers will leave for recess Thursday and remain in their districts for more than a month. The long summer break leaves appropriators with little time to push through their remaining 10 spending bills, including Financial Services and General Government, which haven’t yet passed the House.

The Senate has yet to take up IRS funding.

(Adds context in fourth, sixth, and seventh paragraphs.)


Maeve Sheehey in Washington also contributed to this story.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Cioffi in Washington at ccioffi@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kim Dixon at kdixon@bloombergindustry.com; Naomi Jagoda at njagoda@bloombergindustry.com

Learn more about Bloomberg Tax or Log In to keep reading:

Learn About Bloomberg Tax

From research to software to news, find what you need to stay ahead.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools.