House GOP fights IRS limits on political groups

WASHINGTON - Fighting back against what they call unfair targeting of conservatives, House Republicans on Wednesday voted to delay efforts by the Obama administration to further restrict political activities of groups claiming tax-exempt status.

The GOP bill, approved 243-176, would delay for one year proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations developed in the wake of disclosures last year that the IRS had focused extra scrutiny on nonprofit groups - including those claiming a tea party connection - before the 2010 and 2012 elections.

(Philadelphia-area representatives divided along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and Democrats voting no.)

The White House has said President Obama's top advisers will urge him to veto the bill if it reaches his desk, although Democrats in the Senate are expected to prevent it from getting a vote there.

The lack of clarity under the current standards "has resulted in confusion and difficulty administering the [tax] code, as well as delays in the processing of applications for tax-exempt status," the White House said.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) said the new IRS rules were a blatant attempt "to legalize and institutionalize targeting" of tea party and other groups.

Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced it is recalling Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of the tea party controversy, to testify next week.

Before her retirement last year, Lerner had headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status and was the first person in the agency to publicly admit agents had improperly targeted tea party groups for extra scrutiny after several complained to Republicans in Congress.

Appearing before the committee last spring, Lerner made brief remarks denying any wrongdoing but then invoked a Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination to refuse answering any of the panel's questions.