{"ok":true,"report":{"slug":"Rzh8YLhP","publishedAt":1780072299191,"post":{"text":"Instead, the Democrats 87,000 new IRS hires were disproportionately attacking and auditing poor & middle class hard-working law, abiding American tax paying citizens…. because those victims of this Democrat crime could not afford attorneys and accountants unlike the Democrat oligarchy.","uri":"at://did:plc:kl2beutg4hottrrigktx5334/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmi6qi25es2g","authorHandle":"sandycortez.bsky.social"},"verdict":{"verdict":"Misleading","confidence":82,"summary":"The post combines several distorted claims. The '87,000 IRS agents' figure is a widely debunked exaggeration — the Inflation Reduction Act funded up to 87,000 total IRS employees over 10 years (including customer service and IT staff, not just auditors), and far fewer have actually been hired. The claim that these hires target poor and middle-class taxpayers contradicts the IRS's own stated enforcement priorities, which focus on high-wealth individuals and corporations. The '$9 billion Somali daycare fraud' conflates IRS tax enforcement with Medicaid fraud (which the IRS does not investigate) and misrepresents a $9 billion estimate of potential fraud across 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs — not just daycare.","claims":[{"claim":"Democrats added 87,000 new IRS hires","assessment":"Misleading. The Inflation Reduction Act (2022) allocated $80 billion to the IRS over 10 years, and a CBO estimate suggested this could fund approximately 87,000 new employees over that period. However, these are not all 'agents' or auditors — they include customer service representatives, IT workers, and replacements for retiring staff. The IRS has actually hired roughly 53,000 new employees to date, with total workforce reaching about 100,000. Multiple fact-checkers (Politifact, NYT, Washington Post) have rated the '87,000 agents' claim as false or mostly false."},{"claim":"The new IRS hires were disproportionately auditing poor and middle-class taxpayers","assessment":"False. The IRS's Strategic Operating Plan explicitly states that IRA enforcement funding is prioritized for high-wealth taxpayers, large partnerships, and corporations. Treasury Secretary Yellen and the IRS Commissioner have stated that taxpayers earning under $400,000 would not see increased audit rates. While low-income taxpayers (particularly EITC claimants) have historically faced higher audit rates than middle-income filers, this is a long-standing structural issue predating the IRA, not a result of the new hires."},{"claim":"None of the 87,000 IRS agents found $9 billion in Somali daycare fraud","assessment":"Misleading on multiple levels. First, the IRS does not investigate Medicaid or daycare fraud — that falls under HHS Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the Department of Justice. Second, the $9 billion figure is an estimate by federal prosecutors (December 2025) of potential fraud across 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs (housing stabilization, nutrition, behavioral health, etc.), not just daycare. CBS News reported that child care is only 'vaguely' a priority for prosecutors. Third, the fraud was uncovered by state auditors, investigative journalists, and federal law enforcement — not the IRS."}],"caveats":"The post blends multiple separate issues (IRS hiring, audit rates, and Minnesota Medicaid fraud) into a single narrative. The $9 billion figure is a real estimate from federal prosecutors but applies to a much broader set of programs than daycare alone. Historical IRS audit data does show that the lowest-income taxpayers have faced higher audit rates than middle-income filers, but this trend predates the Inflation Reduction Act and is driven by automated EITC screening, not the new hires.","sources":[{"title":"ICYMI: The Fact Checker: Hyperbolic GOP claims about IRS agents and audits","url":"https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/icymi-the-fact-checker-hyperbolic-gop-claims-about-irs-agents-and-audits"},{"title":"Why Republicans Keep Spreading the '87,000 IRS Agents' Lie","url":"https://time.com/6260075/irs-87000-agents-republican-lie"},{"title":"IRS workforce surpasses 100,000 employees, but faces 'war of attrition' retaining staff","url":"https://federalnewsnetwork.com/hiring-retention/2025/01/irs-workforce-surpasses-100000-employees-but-faces-war-of-attrition-retaining-staff"},{"title":"Federal Tax / Family Office Advisory: IRS Prioritizes Enforcement Against High-Wealth Taxpayers in the Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan","url":"https://www.alston.com/en/insights/publications/2023/04/irs-prioritizes-enforcement-against-high-wealth"},{"title":"Fraud likely exceeds $9 billion in Minnesota-run Medicaid services","url":"https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/12/18/u-s-attorney-fraud-likely-exceeds-9-billion-in-minnesota-run-medicaid-services"},{"title":"Everything we know about Minnesota's massive fraud schemes","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minnesota-fraud-schemes-what-we-know"},{"title":"Federal agents probe fraud allegations targeting Somali child care providers in Minnesota","url":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/federal-agents-probe-fraud-allegations-targeting-somali-child-care-providers-in-minnesota"}]},"communityNote":"Misleading. The 87,000 number covers all IRS staff over a decade, not just auditors. The IRS targets high-wealth filers, not middle-class taxpayers. Also, the IRS does not investigate Medicaid fraud. The $9 billion figure covers multiple Minnesota health programs, not just daycare.","sourceUrl":"https://time.com/6260075/irs-87000-agents-republican-lie"}}