WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., is objecting to two Treasury Department nominees until the Internal Revenue Service provides responses to his inquiry into its whistleblower program.
Grassley's hold blocks the Senate from bringing up the nomination vote by unanimous consent. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would have to file for cloture to force a vote, but then 60 members of the Senate would have to confirm the two nominees rather than a simple majority.
Earlier this month, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously recommended, with a vote of 24-0, that the full Senate confirm Mark Mazur as the Treasury new assistant secretary for tax policy. He would sign off on muni-related and other tax regulatory proposals. The committee also recommended Matthew Rutherford to be Treasury's assistant secretary for financial markets.
"The IRS could and should be doing a lot more to stop big-dollar tax cheats," Grassley said in a release. "Progress on the whistleblower office is critical for tax compliance."
Grassley sent a series of letters to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on June 21 requesting information on delays in whistleblower case processing and pay-outs.
The IRS whistleblower office is a priority for Grassley. In 2006, he sponsored a bill to improve the program.
