Bill to Overhaul IRS to Undergo Significant Changes, Archer Says

WASHINGTON — A bill to restructure the IRS will undergo significant changes to address potential constitutional challenges, Rep. Bill Archer (R-Texas), the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, said Friday.

The IRS overhaul bill, scheduled for a committee vote next week, will be rewritten so the president retains authority to hire and fire the IRS commissioner, subject to Senate confirmation, Archer said.

In its original form, the bill would have created a nine-member board of private citizens that could hire and fire the IRS commissioner, stripping the president of this power.

But the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, which provides technical advice to Congress on tax matters, raised several constitutional questions to that approach, compelling Archer to make changes in the bill before next week’s vote.