Senators call for a GAO probe of IRS’s Free File program

After the White House’s move last year to kill Direct File, three senators are asking the congressional watchdog to examine the alternative program the Trump administration is pushing: the IRS’s beleaguered Free File system. In a letter sent Sunday to acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Angus King, I-Maine, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., requested a Government Accountability Office investigation into Free File, an IRS partnership with private tax prep companies. The partnership has been heavily scrutinized over the course of Free File’s 20-plus-year existence, with critics pointing to scant consumer use, hidden industry costs and data privacy issues. “Due to this history of misconduct, we have serious concerns that Free File cannot efficiently, effectively, and securely serve the taxpayers who are statutorily entitled to free tax filing services,” the lawmakers wrote. Direct File, the IRS’s consumer-praised free electronic filing tool, was launched in the aftermath of an April 2022 GAO report that recommended the tax agency develop new no-cost filing options. Under the Biden administration, the IRS launched a pilot program of Direct File in a dozen states in 2023, and doubled the number of participants the following year. The Trump administration quickly terminated the program, however, pointing to high costs and low user uptake during the purposefully limited pilot seasons.

Federal agencies would be required to develop artificial intelligence standards and use the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI guidelines under a bipartisan bill introduced Thursday. Led by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., the bill would require agencies to use the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework, developed by the NIST in 2023, and work with the agency in developing other consistent standards and guidelines. Reps. Zach Nunn, an Iowa Republican, and Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, co-sponsored the bill, with Beyer calling it “a natural starting point” to ensure agencies have the tools they need to navigate AI’s complexities. “This bill lays the foundation for harnessing the power of AI for the benefit of the American people, while upholding the highest standards of accountability and transparency,” Beyer said in a statement. The bill would also direct NIST to recommend training and use the standards when acquiring any AI systems or services.