The Internal Revenue Service has more than 200 people on its payroll who are working full-time for the National Treasury Employees Union, the agency has revealed.
Rather than investigating cases and collecting taxes, these employees are doing union work such as processing grievances and political lobbying,
The National Review reported.
The information came from the agency's response to a Freedom of Information Act request from
Americans for Limited Government.
Documents also showed that 43 percent of the union operatives were earning six-figure salaries. In practice, there may be more than 200 people employed for the union, as the information revealed in the FOIA response covered only full-time employees.
Though the arrangement, known as "official time," is legal permitted under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, two GOP lawmakers are challenging its validity.
"While the IRS continues to request more funding to further close the more than 14.5 percent tax gap, especially under the current budget crunch and sequestration, it makes little sense to use taxpayer resources to pay for union work," wrote Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Phil Gingrey of Georgia, to IRS acting Administrator Danny Werfel, according to The National Review.
"This kind of practice takes place only in the government. In the private sector, union work and staff are paid for by union dues," they said.
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