Reinvigorated Tea Party Bands Together Against IRS

Tea party leaders banded together Thursday morning to sound a rallying cry for the first time since news broke last week that the IRS disproportionately scrutinized conservative nonprofits applying for tax-exempt status.

Convened by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., former presidential candidate and chairwoman of the House Tea Party Caucus, the news conference outside the Capitol included tea party allies in the House and Senate, national leaders and representatives from local groups around the country.

Their rhetoric left little room to wonder how they feel about the recent developments.

Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, called for an audit of the IRS, which she described as “thuggish.” Adam Brandon, the executive vice president of FreedomWorks, said the government was operating more like “a third world junta than a constitutional republic.”

“It’s an abuse of power, potentially by this administration, to advance their own political ends,” Bachmann told a crowd of reporters afterward. “And story after story after story leads one to the conclusion, based upon the presumptive evidence, that the administration was willing to misuse and abuse government power to advance its own re-election chances in the next election. That’s wrong.”

Lawmakers and political organizers pledged one after another that this is an issue that won’t temper a roaring boil anytime soon, and that they would continue to speak out until they had answers.

They were also joined by pro bono attorneys on Thursday, a clear signal that the voices of those targeted by the IRS will only grow louder.

“They lost funding, they lost donors,” said Jordan Sekulow, the executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice. “We have a group out of Tennessee that lost a $3,000 donation because they weren’t approved.

“There are monetary damages here. Events had to be canceled. Attorney fees before they hired us … groups hired local attorneys and were not allowed to even operate once they got approved,” Sekulow said.

Though revelations about IRS misconduct became public May 10, conservative organizations have been voicing concerns beginning around February 2012, at which point 27 of them became clients of Sekulow’s group.

Blast From the IRS’ Scandal Past

Way back in March 2012, Roll Call published a story about how tea party types were pretty irate over the amount of info they were being asked to provide to the IRS in order to get nonprofit status.

“In the past two months, dozens of tea party groups … say they have received lengthy and intrusive questionnaires, some of which request the names of donors and volunteers,” staff writer Janie Lorber wrote. Full story

In Race to Investigate the IRS, Ways and Means Wins

(Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Days after House Republican leaders promised that the chamber would investigate charges that the IRS disproportionately scrutinized applications by conservative groups, the Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing for this Friday.

Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich., jointly announced on Monday afternoon that the Friday hearing would focus on the IRS’s “practice of discriminating against applicants for tax-exempt status based on the political leanings of the applicants.” Full story

Rubio Meeting Softens Immigration Skeptic’s View

At least one tea party skeptic of the immigration overhaul bill created by the “gang of eight” emerged from a private Tuesday meeting with Sen. Marco Rubio encouraged that the Florida Republican is committed to adjusting the legislation in a way that would make it palatable to conservatives.

Niger Innis, of TheTeaParty.net expressed deep reservations with the Senate bill before the gathering, which featured about 30 conservative supporters and skeptics of the comprehensive rewrite package. In a statement provided to this blog before the meeting, Innis referred to the bill as “more Schumer than Rubio,” in reference to New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, one of four Democrats in the gang of eight. Innis also made a point of expressing suspicion about the legislation’s pathway to citizenship component, which he called “amnesty.”

But Wednesday morning, Innis sounded a slightly different tune after hearing Rubio’s remarks about where the legislation is headed and the changes he is committed to pushing. Although Innis did not change his mind about the group’s legislation in its current form — and made clear that activist members of TheTeaParty.net are unlikely to support the proposal — he signaled that his grass-roots organization is poised to back Rubio’s immigration effort if he can push the changes to the bill that he has said he wants.

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Conservatives Expect Immigration Bill to Move Right

Conservatives exiting a private meeting with Sen. Marco Rubio to discuss immigration reform predicted that legislation pending before Congress would move significantly to the right as it proceeds toward President Barack Obama’s desk.

The Florida Republican, a key architect of the Senate bill, called the gathering to update conservative supporters and skeptics of a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Rubio also invited feedback and recommendations to strengthen the package in his bid to build support among the conservative grass roots and GOP lawmakers.

More than one who attended the meeting said changes are probably needed to strengthen the border security measures — and to counter conservative fears that neither this White House, nor future administrations, will follow through on the legislation’s security directives.

“Whatever bill makes it to the president’s desk will be different than the one that we see now, and I think it will move significantly to the right,” said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute and one of 30 who attended the late Tuesday afternoon meeting.

An individual present at the meeting described the hour-plus exchange as mostly positive, adding that about 30 people attended, including representatives of tea party groups. When asked if Rubio’s staff provided any refreshments, a few who were present said that plenty of water bottles were provided, a sly reference to the senator’s State of the Union rebuttal, when he paused mid-speech to a big gulp of bottled water. A partial list of those who were present is included after the jump.

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Tea Party Caucus to Relaunch With Event Thursday

Mulvaney filed paperwork to create another Tea Party Caucus but has since learned that the original caucus is sill active. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

After a hiatus that coincided with a tough re-election campaign for Rep. Michele Bachmann, the House Tea Party Caucus is launching anew with a reception Thursday.

About a dozen representatives and several senators are expected to attend the event in the Rayburn House Office Building at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, organizers said. Co-hosting the event is TheTeaParty.net and helping organize it is consulting firm kellenPROJECTS.

Also, a competing tea party caucus founded this Congress by South Carolina Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney was abandoned when the lawmaker realized Bachmann would be restarting her caucus after all.

“I was unsure if Congresswoman Bachmann was planning to chair a Tea Party Caucus in the 113th Congress, so my office filed paperwork with the House Administration Committee to establish a caucus by that name. I’m happy to have learned Congresswoman Bachmann plans to continue her own caucus, and I look forward to working with her on a range of Tea Party issues,” Mulvaney said in a written statement. Full story

Rubio’s Fundraising Suggests Immigration Hasn’t Hurt

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

As I just reported in Roll Call’s At the Races campaign blog, Sen. Marco Rubio raised an impressive $2.28 million during the first quarter, even as he joined with Democrats to tackle the thorny political issue of an immigration overhaul.

The Florida Republican and tea party stalwart attracted 15,000 new donors through a recently launched national direct mail program, a feat that would have been a difficult achievement had conservatives disowned him after it was revealed that he had joined the Senate’s “gang of eight” bipartisan negotiators to develop comprehensive legislation to overhaul U.S. immigration law.

Rubio and the gang of eight are scheduled to unveil their bill on Tuesday, and assuming he doesn’t back away from his push to rewrite immigration regulations, only time will tell if the senator can maintain the good will of the conservative grass roots. But for now, Rubio’s first-quarter fundraising suggests that his high-profile role in this politically risky fight hasn’t damaged his brand with conservatives. If anything, Rubio has managed to do just the opposite, while elevating his profile generally.

All of this could change, of course. There could be opposition to Rubio’s bill brewing in the House, to say nothing of it’s still uncertain future in the Senate.

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CPAC: Paul, Rubio Offer GOP Alternate Visions of Uncertain Future

Paul said the Republican Party needs to evolve to appeal to the “Faceb0ok generation” of voters. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio on Thursday offered the Republican Party a glimpse of alternate futures in dueling speeches that revved up two distinct groups of conservative activists.

Speaking back to back to political activists attending the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, Florida’s Rubio offered a broad vision more grounded in the three-legged coalition of social, national security and fiscal conservatives that has defined GOP governing since Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980.

Kentucky’s Paul focused his remarks on constitutional liberty and social libertarianism, specifically calling on the Republican Party to change and evolve from the “stale, moss-covered” party he said it has become into a movement that appeals to the younger “Facebook generation” of voters that he claims questions the viability of Social Security and wants the government to leave them alone.

“I think they were both good speeches,” said Wayne Morgan, a Washington, D.C., activist and consultant sporting a Ken Cuccinelli for Virginia governor sticker. “Rubio’s speech seemed to resound, I would say, with the whole crowd. Paul’s message of freedom, rights, small-government definitely hits most of this crowd.”

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House GOP Doesn’t Expect Obama Charm Offensive to Last

Obama emerges from his closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Memo to President Barack Obama: Next time you decide to charm House Republicans, don’t meet with them on the same day you’re scheduled to headline a fundraiser for your campaign organization turned issue advocacy pressure group.

Several House Republicans emerged from Wednesday’s closed-door session with Obama complimentary of the president’s tone and effort to reach out. They said there was no tension in the room and that they remain hopeful that their Capitol Hill get-together was the first step in a new era of engagement, dialogue and negotiation between the Congress and this president. Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio held a brief private one-on-one meeting after the event, according to a GOP source.

But underscoring the deep trust deficit that remains, House Republicans were very aware of the fact that just a few hours after Obama departed the Capitol, he was set to speak at a dinner for Organizing for Action. The group is run by the president’s former 2012 campaign staffers and has been billed as intended to apply political pressure on Congress to enact Obama’s agenda.

“I’m waiting to hear what he says at OFA tonight. … I think that ‘s when we get the real gauge about whether or not he’s really willing to bridge the gap,” Maryland Rep. Andy Harris said, adding that Obama should tell OFA “that you have to actually concede issues to the other side. If that’s not the message that he delivers to OFA, then his charm offensive really is for the media.”

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Republicans Remain Skeptical of Obama’s Charm Offensive

Latham said he hopes Obama’s recent outreach to congressional Republicans is “genuine.” (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Congressional Republicans remain skeptical of President Barack Obama’s charm offensive — very, very, very skeptical.

In conversations with House and Senate Republicans late Tuesday, a deep suspicion of his motives for reaching out and his commitment to working with them on fiscal and other issues hung like a dark cloud over their otherwise predictable comments expressing cautious optimism that Washington could be on the cusp of a new era of bipartisanship.

“There’s some concern as to whether it will be more than political window dressing,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said during a brief interview. “I think members are happy that it’s happening. They’re not yet convinced that it’s going to be consistent and long-lasting.”

“I hope it’s genuine,” Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, added. “Who knows?”

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