Obama to discuss IRS controversy with Treasury officials
WASHINGTON The White House says President Obama will meet with Treasury officials Wednesday to discuss the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for special review. White House press secretary Jay Carney says Mr. Obama expects people to be held accountable.
The meeting comes in the aftermath of an internal Treasury investigation that found the IRS improperly selected conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for further appraisal.
Carney sidestepped a question about whether Mr. Obama still had confidence in acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller, saying he wouldn't discuss personnel matters. He said Mr. Obama has expressed his overall view that IRS personnel had acted inappropriately.
Carney says Obama wants the public to "understand and believe that the IRS applies our tax laws in a neutral and fair way to everyone."
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Also Wednesday, the president plans to meet with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at 4 p.m. to discuss ongoing efforts to pass an overhaul of immigration laws and budget issues.
McCain is one of the key Republicans in a bipartisan group of eight senators who drafted broad immigration legislation that would include a path to citizenship for immigrants illegally in the United States.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has been assembling the bill as its key sponsors attempt to fend off efforts that could hurt its chances of passing.
The meeting with McCain comes as the president faces questions over his administration's response to an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. McCain has been a leading critic of the administration's actions after the attack.