The Hill - House Republican: IRS Head Should Resign Over Data Breaches

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By: Katie Bo Williams

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) on Friday called for the resignation of Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen over the agency's failure to defend its digital defenses from hackers.

"Commissioner Koskinen has provided little confidence that cybersecurity is a top priority at the IRS," Comstock said in a statement.

The IRS has been under increasing pressure from lawmakers -- including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) -- to ensure the security of its systems after a series of embarrassing breaches.

In August, the agency revealed that hackers had been able to swipe sensitive information about hundreds of thousands of taxpayers.

Comstock cited the resignation of the former director of the Office of Personnel Management after thieves swiped the data of over 20 million current and former federal employees and others.

"Former OPM Director Katherine Archuleta and executives of companies that have been hacked ultimately resigned with similar breaches," she said. "Commissioner Koskinen should follow these examples and to allow for new and trusted leadership at the IRS."

Koskinen has spent the past several days on Capitol Hill defending the agency's security posture.

Comstock on Thursday pressed him on the agency's ability to properly staff its IT department to deal with the onslaught of hacks during a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Koskinen also faced criticism for the agency's failure to implement all of a series of Government Accountability Office recommendations.

"There's been some question about why we didn't immediately sign on to the most recent ones, but the process is we are supposed to advise Congress within 60 days of a detailed timeline," Koskinen said.

Gregory Wilshusen, director of information security at the GAO, said Thursday that the agency has 94 open recommendations going back to fiscal 2010, including 45 new recommendations made in March.

"We're limited by time and resources, but we are committed in the security area to implement those as quickly as we can," Koskinen said.

Comstock cited the GAO report in her statement, arguing that the IRS should have "redoubled its efforts and made sure that their own systems were able to handle the cyberattacks being waged against it."

"We are in the height of tax season and the IRS does not have someone who is in charge of cybersecurity. This is a failure that cannot stand," she said.

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