John Koskinen

John A. Koskinen

Prior offices

Deputy Mayor and City Administrator in Washington D.C.

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Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget

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Education

Bachelor's

Duke University

Law

Yale Law School

Personal

Profession

Businessman, Public official

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John A. Koskinen was the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Koskinen was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013, and confirmed on December 20, 2013, by a vote of 59-36, making him the 48th IRS Commissioner.

When he nominated Koskinen, Obama said in a statement, “John is an expert at turning around institutions in need of reform. With decades of experience, in both the private and public sectors, John knows how to lead in difficult times, whether that means ensuring new management or implementing new checks and balances. Every part of our government must operate with absolute integrity and that is especially true for the IRS. I am confident that John will do whatever it takes to restore the public’s trust in the agency.”

Biography

Koskinen was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 30, 1939. He earned a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He then engaged in post-graduate work at the University of Cambridge.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Koskinen's academic, professional, and political career:

• December 23, 2013-November 12, 2017: 48th Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service
• 2008-2011: Non-Executive Chairman and Acting CEO of Freddie Mac
• 2007-2013: Director at American Capital, Ltd. (Former Name: American Capital Strategies Ltd.)
• 2004-2013: Independent Director of the AES Corporation
• 2004-2008: President of the U.S. Soccer Foundation
• 2000-2003: Deputy Mayor and City Administrator of Washington, D.C.
• 1998-2000: Assistant to the President and Chair of the Council on Year 2000 Conversion
• 1994-1997: Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget
• 1979-1993: Chief Executive Officer and President of The Palmieri Company
• 1964-1965: Engaged in post-graduate work at the University of Cambridge
• 1964: Earned J.D. from Yale Law School
• 1961: Earned B.A. from Duke University

Confirmation vote

Koskinen was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 2013, by a vote of 59-36.

John Koskinen confirmation vote, December 20, 2013
Party	Votes for a	Votes against d	Total votes
Democrats	52	0	52
Republicans	5	36	41
Independents	2	0	2
Total Votes	59	36	95

Tenure

Executive Departments of the United States

Executive Departments Department of State • Department of the Treasury • Department of Defense • Department of Justice • Department of the Interior • Department of Agriculture • Department of Commerce • Department of Labor • Department of Health and Human Services • Department of Housing and Urban Development • Department of Transportation • Department of Energy • Department of Education • Department of Veterans Affairs • Department of Homeland Security

Department Secretaries Marco Rubio • Scott Bessent • Pete Hegseth • Pam Bondi • Doug Burgum • Brooke Rollins • Lori Chavez-DeRemer • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. • Scott Turner • Howard Lutnick • Sean Duffy • Chris Wright • Linda McMahon • Doug Collins • Kristi Noem

Investigations into IRS tax-exempt controversy

Koskinen was appointed by President Barack Obama to help restore public confidence in the IRS after investigations revealed that IRS employees improperly scrutinized conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. According to Forbes, beginning in 2010, the IRS targeted groups with "tea party” or “patriot” in their names, as well as "applicants critical of the government or engaging in other kinds of speech that is political in nature." When Koskinen took over as IRS Commissioner, there were six investigations into the IRS's tax-exempt controversy.

House conservatives, specifically members of the House Freedom Caucus, pushed to impeach Koskinen for not complying with their requests during investigations of the IRS's practices. According to Politico, “Conservatives say Koskinen impeded a congressional investigation when subpoenaed documents related to the IRS-tea party controversy were destroyed on his watch. Koskinen says he had nothing to do with lower-level employees erasing backup tapes of emails written by Lois Lerner, the IRS official who led the department that singled out conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.”

Resolution to impeach Koskinen

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, "There Must Be Accountability," August 18, 2015.

On October 27, 2015, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced a resolution to begin proceedings to impeach Koskinen. Chaffetz said, “Commissioner Koskinen violated the public trust. He failed to comply with a congressionally issued subpoena, documents were destroyed on his watch, and the public was consistently misled. Impeachment is the appropriate tool to restore public confidence in the IRS and to protect the institutional interests of Congress. This action will demonstrate to the American people that the IRS is under repair, and signal that Executive Branch officials who violate the public trust will be held accountable.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) commented on the resolution, saying, "This ridiculous resolution will demonstrate nothing but the Republican obsession with diving into investigative rabbit holes that waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars while having absolutely no positive impact on a single American. Calling this resolution a 'stunt' or a 'joke' would be insulting to stunts and jokes."

House committee votes to censure Koskinen

On June 15, 2016, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed a resolution to censure Koskinen by a vote of 23-15. According to a press release from the committee, "The Resolution expresses the sense of the House that Mr. Koskinen engaged in a pattern of conduct inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him as an Officer of the United States, urges Mr. Koskinen’s resignation or removal, and requires forfeiture of his government pension and any other federal benefits for which he is eligible."

Possible impeachment vote

The House was expected to hold a vote to impeach Koskinen on September 15, 2016, but House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) agreed to postpone the vote. Jordan and Goodlatte agreed to hold a hearing on September 21, 2016.

The Freedom Caucus released the following statement after the agreement was reached: "The House Judiciary Committee will finally hold impeachment proceedings of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen next Wednesday. This hearing will give every American the opportunity to hear John Koskinen answer under oath why he misled Congress, allowed evidence pertinent to an investigation to be destroyed, and defied Congressional subpoenas and preservation orders."

On the same day Jordan and Goodlatte agreed to postpone an impeachment vote, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) said he would push for a vote after the hearing. He said, “It only takes one. We're going to have a vote next week. I would be very disappointed if they waited till November or December or next year.”

On September 21, 2016, Koskinen appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. During the hearing, Republicans examined Koskinen's role in destroying records related to the targeting controversy. "Republicans challenged the commissioner by suggesting that the records, which may have included emails of former IRS manager Lois Lerner, were intentionally destroyed. Mr. Koskinen said the destruction of records under subpoena wasn’t purposeful and was done by two employees on the midnight shift in Martinsburg, W.Va. ... Mr. Koskinen and his defenders say the records destruction was inadvertent and that he didn’t knowingly make any false statements," according to The Wall Street Journal.

During the hearing, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) said to Koskinen, “Your overall record is one of gross incompetence and extreme negligence.” He then urged Koskinen to resign.

After the hearing, Koskinen defended himself, saying, “There is no evidence anywhere that I knew something I didn’t tell people about, that I falsified or misrepresented or lied.” He added that he would not resign and that moving to impeach him would deter qualified people from working for the government in the future.

Push to vote on impeachment rejected

On December 6, 2016, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the outgoing House Freedom Caucus chairman, attempted to force a vote on a resolution to impeach Koskinen, but the move was rejected. The resolution accused Koskinen of impeding a congressional investigation into the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Koskinen and his wife Patricia have two children.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term John + Koskinen + IRS + Commissioner

John Koskinen News Feed

See also

• Internal Revenue Service
• IRS targeting allegations

External links

• IRS.gov