IRS chief faces likely impeachment vote in House

U.S. House conservatives are set to relaunch next month their effort to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, with or without Speaker Paul Ryan’s go-ahead.

Rep. John Fleming, R-Louisiana, says he and other conservatives are prepared to unilaterally force an impeachment vote within days after Congress returns to session on Sept. 6. “The only thing up in the air is whether it will be the first or second week we’re back,” he said in an interview.

Any action would be largely symbolic, because the effort would get blocked in the Senate if it passes the House.

But Republicans remain angry at Koskinen, who they accuse of impeding an investigation into whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative nonprofits. Their allegations include failing to prevent the IRS from destroying evidence and providing false and misleading information to Congress.

A rogue impeachment effort on the House floor by conservatives dissolved last month as time ran out before Congress broke for the seven-week summer break.

Ryan has neither threatened to block this redo “nor given us any lecture or reason not to do it,” Fleming said in an interview. But the speaker, while himself critical of Koskinen, has shown reluctance to the idea of setting a modernday precedent on impeaching cabinet officials.

Legislation pushed by conservatives to remove Koskinen hasn’t advanced to the House floor under the normal committee process, which Ryan says he prefers. And Ryan in July emphasized the entire House Republican conference must first settle on “an appropriate path” to addressing concerns about Koskinen when lawmakers return from break.