A bill that would abolish the IRS and replace income taxes with national taxes is likely dead, according to a Republican.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb) predicted that the House is going to stop it in its tracks during a C-SPAN interview about the Fair Tax Act.
“I don’t think it’s going to get on first base,” Bacon said, adding "I was told initially by the speaker’s office… that they’re going to put this bill on the floor and vote on it up or down.”
Bacon previously voted to rescind funding for 87,000 IRS agents that were hired by the Biden Administration.
At the time, Bacon said that the “IRS should be working for the American people” and “not against them.”
"I raised a fit about it — I’m trying to use clean language here — because it’s got to go through committee,” the Republican said during the interview on Wednesday.
Bacon claimed that neither Democrats nor Republicans have any desire to move forth with the bill, reiterating that he doesn’t think it would make it out of the Ways and Means Committee because "there’s no appetite to do a… 23% or 25% sales tax on all goods purchased, or maybe higher.”
Bacon believes that with an additional 87,000 IRS agents, American money is at risk and being surveilled by the federal government, threatening small business owners and hard-working people.
This comes just a day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) responded with a “no” to reporters after being asked if he supports the legislation.
According to Axios, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) said that he plans on holding a hearing on the bill “to see where it goes,” adding that the bill would have to be voted out of the committee for it to hit the House floor.
In September, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Republican Leader of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, introduced a bill along with Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), to prevent the IRS from using its massive $80 billion infusion of taxpayer money to get more revenue from American taxpayers.
“It’s clear the IRS has long lost touch with its mission: to serve taxpayers,” Rep. Smith said.