In a hearing with new acting IRS chief Danny Werfel, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) revealed that the IRS gave more than $92 million in bonuses to employees, including several involved in the targeting of conservative groups.
Lois Lerner, the director of the tax-exempt organizations division at the IRS, received $42,000 in bonuses during the period when groups were being targeted, according to Rogers.
Sarah Hall Ingram, the commissioner of the tax-exempt and government entities division of the IRS who now oversees the IRS office responsible for implementing Obamacare, received nearly $103,000 in bonuses.
Joseph Grant, Ingram’s successor, received bonuses amounting to approximately $84,000.
According to Rogers, Office of Personnel Management guidelines state that bonuses larger than $25,000 must receive direct approval from the president. Based on the information available during the hearing, it was unclear if the bonuses provided to Lerner, Ingram, and Grant fell under that guideline. If several smaller bonuses were given rather than a single large one, the rule may not have applied.
Werfel promised to provide information on who approved the bonuses.
