SC Nebraska News

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Chuck Edwards (R-NC), along with 27 other House members, have urged President Trump to terminate the IRS Direct File pilot program immediately upon taking office in January. They sent a letter also addressed to Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott Bessent, and Russell Vought.

The letter's cosigners include Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Carol Miller (R-WV), Mark Alford (R-MO), Rick Allen (R-GA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Mike Carey (R-OH), Ron Estes (R-KS), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Kevin Hern (R-OK) Erin Houchin (R-IN), Young Kim (R-CA), David Kustoff (R-TN), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Greg Murphy (R-NC), August Pfluger (R-TX), Keith Self (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Greg Steube (R-FL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), William Timmons (R-SC), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Steve Womack (R-AR), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Nathaniel Moran(R-TX) and Nicole Malliotakis(R-NY).

The members stated: "We write to urge you to take immediate action, including a day-one executive order, to end the Internal Revenue Service’s unauthorized and wasteful Direct File pilot program." They argue that the program threatens taxpayers' freedom from government overreach.

The letter criticizes the Biden-Harris administration for expanding the IRS's influence with $80 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act. It claims that this expansion has led to overreach and audits targeting Americans.

"Instead of Direct File, the IRS should be focused on improving its functionality and service," the letter states, pointing out delays in tax returns and failure to reduce the federal deficit.

Smith and Edwards previously introduced legislation in July to terminate the Direct File program. Smith also introduced legislation passed by the House in January 2023 to repeal the Biden-Harris administration’s IRS expansion.