President Obama said Wednesday that acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller has resigned in the fallout of the agency scandal in which conservative groups were targeted.
The president made the announcement in a brief statement at the White House, following a meeting with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in which they reviewed an inspector general’s report on the issue.
Obama said Lew asked for the resignation and Miller agreed, after being on the job since November 2012. The targeting of Tea Party groups and others appears to have started as early as 2010.
“Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I’m angry about it,” Obama said from the White House.
The Treasury Department inspector general report found the tax-collection agency, in examining applications for tax-exempt status, improperly selected conservative groups for further review.
Miller’s resignation was part of three-step plan Obama outlined to fix the problem.
The other steps are to put in place the safeguards recommended in the report and to work with Congress in its oversight capacity.
“The good news is we can fix this,” Obama said.
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney sidestepped a question about whether Obama still had confidence in Miller, saying he wouldn't discuss personnel matters. He said Obama has expressed his overall view that IRS personnel had acted inappropriately.
"He wants to see that the actions taken, as revealed by the Treasury report, that are inappropriate, are met with consequences," Carney said. "He will make clear to Treasury Department leaders that he expects action."
Carney said Obama wants the public to "understand and believe that the IRS applies our tax laws in a neutral and fair way to everyone."
Also early Wednesday evening, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs sent a letter to Miller requesting that he make available five employees, named in the IG audit, for transcribed interviews by committee staff.
The Republican-led committee wants to start the interviews Monday.
The names and titles of IRS employees requested are Holly Paz, a director; John Shafer, a manager; Gary Muthert, a screener; Liz Hofacre, a case coordinator; and Joseph Herr, a manager.
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