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Washington, D.C.—The head of the union representing tens of thousands of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees today, in testimony submitted to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, called on Congress to carefully monitor the agency to ensure that there are no plans to implement cuts in its customer service operations.

Despite sharp internal criticism of its decision-making and explicit directions from Congress, the IRS has previously indicated it will move ahead to reduce taxpayer services, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley told the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies.

At the hearing, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson was subjected to questioning by senators regarding customer service. In response, Commissioner Everson tried to reassure committee members that the IRS is not planning any customer service cuts and, in fact, is hiring employees to staff its Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs).

“I am pleased by the Commissioner’s comments,” Kelley said following the hearing, “It seems that the objections to customer service cuts that NTEU has been making are finally getting the attention they deserve.”

In fact, Commissioner Everson also suggested to senators today that the agency is exploring another NTEU suggestion: reducing the number of middle managers. As a way to increase the efficiency of the IRS and reduce costs, President Kelley has been urging the agency to reduce the number of managers who supervise frontline employees, known as span of control, and to use that money to hire additional frontline workers. Commissioner Everson today acknowledged Kelley’s suggestion and said the IRS was exploring it.

It was just last year that the IRS proposed closing 68 TACS across the country. NTEU led a grassroots effort, and enlisted the help of Congress, to keep the TACs open.

In her testimony, President Kelley pointed to critical reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on the IRS’s gathering and use of data in connection with the TAC closure plan. TIGTA concluded that IRS management does not have reliable data on the TACs to make decisions about TAC operations and sharply criticized the business model the IRS used to justify the TAC closings last year.

President Kelley emphasized her support for an agency budget that includes meaningful increases in funding for both enforcement and customer service programs.

“NTEU believes that if the IRS is going to continue to ask for improved performance from its employees, it must request a realistic budget that is commensurate with the agency’s goals,” she said.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 federal workers in 30 agencies and departments, including 90,000 in the IRS.