Senator seeks to link IRS funding to action on missing computers

Senate Finance Committee ranking Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa has urged the White House Office of Management and Budget not to boost funding for the Internal Revenue Service until the agency accounts for about 2,300 missing computers and improves its inventory management, reports Dow Jones Newswires.

Grassley said in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels this week that Congress has spent millions to meet continued funding requests to modernize IRS systems.

"Now we learn that the IRS is like a child who asks for a doll all year and then loses it the day after Christmas--or, in this case, loses 2,300 dolls," Grassley wrote. He cited a Treasury Department report that revealed that the IRS is missing about 2,300 computers, a finding that Grassley said reflects the "historical poor management of money and personnel" at the IRS.

"It is my view that serious consideration should be given to placing a limitation on the IRS' budget until there is real improvement--not real promises--in inventory management," he wrote.