TOTALLY GEEKED!

WASHINGTON — When Congress returns next month from its seven-week recess, conservative rebels in the House vow to force a vote on whether to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, effectively making an end-run around reluctant House leaders to achieve their goal.

Republicans allege that Koskinen obstructed an investigation into whether the IRS improperly scrutinized conservative Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status, although they do not agree on whether the IRS chief should be impeached. Democrats have denounced impeachment efforts against Koskinen as a politically motivated "travesty" that defames an honorable public servant who has done nothing wrong.

"John Koskinen needs to go, and we are committed to that," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, said in an interview with USA TODAY.

Although House leaders usually set the agenda, Jordan and other Freedom Caucus members are using a procedural tactic called a "privileged resolution" to force an impeachment vote. They can force the vote two days after they file the resolution.

A resolution filed by caucus members before the congressional recess has expired, but Jordan said they are poised to file it again when Congress reconvenes. Lawmakers are set to return on Sept. 6.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he will call a meeting of the full House Republican Conference to discuss the impeachment issue after members return to the Capitol. Ryan has made it clear, however, that he believes the House Judiciary Committee should decide what action, if any, is warranted.

Jordan, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said he would still like to see the panel initiate impeachment proceedings. But he said the Freedom Caucus, which has about 40 members, is not willing to wait much longer. Time is rapidly running out on the 114th Congress, which is scheduled to be in session less than eight weeks for the remainder of this year.

Jordan said the caucus has been buoyed by an Aug. 5 decision by a federal appeals court that said the IRS has not proven that it has ended discriminatory practices against conservative groups. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated a lawsuit against the agency. "The court just said that the IRS may not have cleaned up its act at all," Jordan said.

In June, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted along party lines to censure Koskinen, an action that allowed Republicans to express their displeasure with the IRS chief without going so far as to recommend his impeachment. The Judiciary Committee held two hearings on the issue but has not acted.

The controversy over the IRS's treatment of conservative groups arose in 2013, when former IRS official Lois Lerner acknowledged that the agency had inappropriately delayed the tax-exemption applications of groups using "tea party" or other politically charged terms in their names, and had subjected some of those groups to invasive questions. Her admission touched off a firestorm of criticism, with Republicans charging that the Obama administration was using the IRS to target political opponents.

Koskinen was not at the IRS when that happened, but Republicans said he obstructed congressional investigations when he became commissioner in December 2013. Jordan said 422 tapes containing as many as 24,000 emails relevant to the investigation were destroyed under Koskinen's watch. "If you're being audited by the IRS and the documents you're supposed to produce are lost, you're in big trouble," Jordan said. "You're going to be fined; you may be going to jail. When the American people see different standards — one for those who are connected in Washington and one for we the people — it drives them nuts."

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who is Koskinen's boss, has consistently defended the IRS chief as innocent of any wrongdoing.

"The effort to impeach Commissioner Koskinen is completely baseless," the department said in a statement. "Secretary Lew continues to have full confidence in Commissioner Koskinen and believes that Commissioner Koskinen’s decades of experience turning around both public and private institutions continues to make him the right person to lead the IRS. Not only is Commissioner Koskinen a strong leader, he is a man of the highest integrity with steadfast commitment to public service during difficult times. To be clear, the IRS has cooperated with all Congressional investigations and has committed to continuing to work with Congress moving forward."

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power of impeachment to remove elected officials and civil servants from office for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Impeachment has almost never been used to remove heads of federal departments or agencies.

President Grant's secretary of war, William Belknap, was impeached by the House in 1876 for alleging receiving kickbacks from a federal contractor. Belknap was the only member of a president's cabinet ever to be impeached, according to the House website. The Senate, however, acquitted Belknap 140 years ago and is unlikely to go along with the House this year if it votes to impeach Koskinen.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, an influential member and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said he doesn't see a basis to impeach the IRS chief.  "We can have our disagreements with him, but that doesn't mean there's an impeachable offense," Hatch told reporters in May. "And for the most part he's been very cooperative with us."