National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 997) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to conform to the intent of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, as set forth in the joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference accompanying Conference Report 105-599, that the National Taxpayer Advocate be able to hire and consult counsel as appropriate, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act, introduced by my Committee on Ways and Means colleagues, Representatives Feenstra and Davis.

The National Taxpayer Advocate exists to promote and defend the rights of American taxpayers. In order to achieve these goals, not only should the advocate be independent from the IRS, but the staff assisting the advocate should be as well.

Yet, right now, the attorneys hired to assist the National Taxpayer Advocate report to IRS legal counsel, are accountable to IRS legal counsel, and answer to IRS legal counsel, not the National Taxpayer Advocate.

It is a situation that begs for conflicts of interest to occur. It risks undermining the ability of the National Taxpayer Advocate to trust that the legal advice that she receives is without any undue influence from the IRS. It certainly undermines the ability of the American taxpayer to have faith that the National Taxpayer Advocate's service is adhering to its mission.

The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act gives the NTA the authority to hire her own lawyers, who will report directly to her, rather than be accountable to the IRS, the very agency whose behavior the advocate exists to scrutinize and defend against.

The American people have a well-founded fear of the IRS given its dismal track record of violating the rights of taxpayers. The very least we can do is ensure that an entity that exists to fight on behalf of taxpayers actually has a clearly defined and reinforced independence from the IRS.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Feenstra and Davis for their bipartisan leadership on this issue and advocating for the rights of the American taxpayers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I imagine the American people would be surprised and no doubt disappointed to learn that the very organization whose mission it is to advocate on behalf of taxpayers relies on legal advice provided by attorneys who are employed by, and answer to, the IRS. It is a bizarre arrangement to be sure.

The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act will ensure that the attorneys serving the NTA are hired by her and accountable to her. This will also allow the Advocate's office to promote attorneys from within that organization, helping to retain their talent, experience, and expertise.

Mr. Speaker, the Ways and Means Committee approved this legislation with unanimous consent, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 997, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act. I am pleased to lead this bill with my colleague, Representative Feenstra from Iowa.

The National Taxpayer Advocate is the independent advocate working to assist taxpayers. I am deeply grateful to her and her team for their outstanding work to identify tax policy improvements, to help taxpayers at large, and for their work to help individual taxpayers when they need assistance with a specific problem.

The bill makes a small but important statutory clarification that the National Taxpayer Advocate may appoint and supervise her own legal counsel, rather than only using attorneys that report to the IRS chief counsel.

Being able to appoint independent counsel is an essential step to preserving the independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate Office, as required under section 7803(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Given her independent role, the National Taxpayer Advocate often takes positions contrary to the positions of the IRS and the Office of Chief Counsel. As a result, the National Taxpayer Advocate needs her own independent counsel to advise and adopt legal positions so that she can effectively advocate for taxpayers and to advise Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the committee is marking up the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act today to protect the independence of the National Taxpayer Advocate, and I hope that this bipartisan effort will extend to dealing with the threat of data privacy that the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service currently are experiencing.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 997 is a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation and is the product of a recommendation made by the Taxpayer Advocate. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act. I thank my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), for working with me on this initiative.

Since 2015, the IRS has prohibited the National Taxpayer Advocate from hiring her own legal counsel, which undermines her ability to provide insight, ensure fair treatment of taxpayers, and responsibly work with the IRS caseworkers.

American taxpayers expect and deserve the best customer service and case outcomes when filing their Federal taxes.

However, this outdated restriction on the National Taxpayer Advocate prevents her from hiring the team she needs to do her job.

My bill clarifies it is within the purview of the National Taxpayer Advocate to hire attorneys that report specifically to her. These attorneys help conduct oversight, ensure taxpayers are being treated fairly, and inform Congress of taxpayer challenges at the IRS.

This measure ensures we keep politics out of the IRS and solely focus on outcomes for the taxpayer.

With this improvement, American families will benefit from fewer headaches when dealing with the IRS and a more accountable government.

This bill itself is a recommendation from the National Taxpayer Advocate Purple Book and has been a recommended policy change for quite a few years.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith, again, for working with me to make the IRS run smoother and to ensure taxpayers are being treated fairly.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 997 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent during the time of votes due to travel and weather delays. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 84, H.R. 517, Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act; and YEA on Roll Call No. 85, H.R. 997, National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025.