Dems Call on Trump to Reopen Government So IRS Can Issue Refunds

January 9, 2019

President Donald J. Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Trump,

With the annual tax season fast approaching, we write to urge you to swiftly reopen the government and immediately address the potential crisis that the government shutdown poses for American families who depend on the IRS to process tax returns promptly. The announcement from the White House budget director that refunds would be disbursed before the IRS could even release a plan to do so offers little comfort to the millions of Americans who depend on their refunds.

Instead of playing political games with Americans' hard-earned federal tax refunds and forcing more public servants to work without pay, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to reopen the federal government to prevent the possibility of delayed refund disbursements.

Since your Administration, along with House and Senate Republicans, irresponsibly brought the federal government into partial shutdown on December 22, 2018, over 800,000 federal employees and contractors have had to either work without pay or face furloughs. These public servants, and the hundreds and millions of working families who depend and base their budgets on their anticipated annual tax refunds, need the certainty of their paychecks and their tax refunds now more than ever.

Despite Tax Day 2019 fast approaching, the IRS has been operating with only about 12% of its workforce. Faced with new operating hurdles due to passage of the Republican tax bill last Congress, including an increase in the number of anticipated inquiries from tax filers about the new law, each day of the shutdown increases the likeliness of delayed tax returns or even erroneous tax filings.

Working class and low-income families often live paycheck-to-paycheck and rely on every dollar and penny they earn to make ends meet, put food on the table, buy gas to get to work, and pay the rent or mortgage to keep a roof over their heads. According to the Wall Street Journal, "For many Americans, the tax refund is the single largest financial event of the year, and the people who tend to file early in the season are taxpayers who count on large refunds to pay down debt, catch up on bills or make major purchases . . . those are disproportionately low-income households that benefit from the earned-income tax credit and other provisions that give them no income-tax liability or a net benefit from the income-tax system."¹

The debate about border wall funding should not come at the expense of keeping families from receiving the federal tax refunds they have worked hard to earn and depend on.

We urge you to end the shutdown immediately. Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass H.R. 21, continuing appropriations for six of the seven remaining spending bills through September 30th, 2019, and H.J.Res. 1, to provide stopgap funding for the Department of Homeland Security so that negotiations may continue.

Sincerely,

Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04)
Member of Congress

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)
Member of Congress

Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06)
Member of Congress

Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09)
Member of Congress

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Member of Congress

Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-08)
Member of Congress

Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13)
Member of Congress

Rep. Alcee I. Hastings (FL-20)
Member of Congress

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05)
Member of Congress

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32)
Member of Congress

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Dwight Evans (PA-03)
Member of Congress

Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08)
Member of Congress

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09)
Member of Congress

Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Member of Congress

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03)
Member of Congress

Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
Member of Congress

Rep. Bradley S. Schneider (IL-10)
Member of Congress

Rep. Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05)
Member of Congress

Rep. Ted W. Lieu (CA-33)
Member of Congress

Rep. Al Lawson, Jr. (FL-05)
Member of Congress

Rep. Peter Welch (VT)
Member of Congress

Rep. Norma J. Torres (CA-35)
Member of Congress

Rep. Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47)
Member of Congress

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
Member of Congress

Rep. A. Donald McEachin (VA-04)
Member of Congress

Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14)
Member of Congress

Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06)
Member of Congress

Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
Member of Congress

Rep. Susan Wild (PA-07)
Member of Congress

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)
Member of Congress

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07)
Member of Congress

Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)
Member of Congress

Rep. Salud O. Carbajal (CA-24)
Member of Congress

Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04)
Member of Congress

Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11)
Member of Congress

Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03)
Member of Congress

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)
Member of Congress

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)
Member of Congress

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Member of Congress

Rep. Brad Sherman (CA-30)
Member of Congress

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Member of Congress

Rep. Anthony G. Brown (MD-04)
Member of Congress

Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02)
Member of Congress

Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10)
Member of Congress

Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17)
Member of Congress

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07)
Member of Congress

Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-05)
Member of Congress