The IRS played an integral role distributing economic impact payments to Americans during the pandemic, and lawmakers on Wednesday tried to make the case that the agency’s failure to update its aging technology systems is what caused delays in stimulus check payments.
But Vijay D’Souza, the director of information technology and cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office, told lawmakers on the House Oversight subcommittee on government operations that outdated IT systems are a problem, but they aren’t necessarily the culprit behind the delays.
“I think any of the issues that we've talked about related to the payments had more to do with sort of policy and procedural issues versus the underlying technology, actually,” D’Souza said in response to questions from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. D’Souza added the outstanding issue he sees is getting people who haven’t received a check yet access to the online portal.
Still, the hearing was not without its fireworks. Democratic lawmakers such as subcommittee chair Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., accused Republicans of running the IRS into the ground by neglecting to provide adequate funding, leaving it unable to take on modernization efforts to improve citizen services. Republicans, led by ranking member Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., accused IRS of failing to spend funds on true modernization. Instead, Hice said too much money is still spent on maintaining legacy systems.
IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig pushed back at insinuations of irresponsibility by touting his IT team’s round-the-clock work to provide services during the pandemic while at the same time pivoting to a work from home environment. Rettig, however, also acknowledged persistent perils presented by outdated IT systems and asked for more funding.
“This committee understands how the federal government continues to spend a majority of the ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
