Scott DesJarlaisU.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., today criticized Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman for what he said was their failure to provide documentation justifying their adoption of a key rule impacting the federal health care law.
The Jasper lawmaker said in a news release he believes the IRS rule is an "end-run" around Congress "that lacks any legislative history" supporting it.
DesJarlais, a member of the House Government Reform Committee, and the panel's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., in August wrote a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding the Obama administration provide evidence and documents justifying the rule.
The rule would extend tax credits to individuals who buy insurance from an exchange set up by the federal government when their home state doesn't set up an exchange itself. Many states, including Tennessee, haven't moved to set up their own state exchanges.
DesJarlais, a critic of "ObamaCare," said "it is my hope that both the IRS and Treasury will honor our initial request and provide us with all documentation.
"Their continued avoidance of our reasonable request only reaffirms my belief that the IRS and the Treasury's actions constituted a rewriting of a law masqueraded as a rule - violating the constitutional authority bestowed to Congress," DesJarlais said.