'Build Back' Bill Adds 87,000 IRS Agents, Cuts Money for Hospitals in Red States: 'It's Mean-Spirited'

President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" plan, which is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate, has drawn even more questions about controversial items in the proposed $2 trillion bill. 

One of those items is $80 million for hiring 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents, according to multiple sources, including Americans for Tax Reform and Headline USA.  

In a statement released on the Build Back Better framework in late October, the White House said "the IRS does not have the resources it needs to pursue wealthy tax cheats." But new evidence indicates tens of thousands of those new IRS agents would be tasked with targeting middle-income Americans. 

The White House insists, "The framework will create a fairer tax system through transformation investments in the IRS: hiring enforcement agents who are trained to pursue wealthy evaders, modernizing outdated IRS technology, and investing in taxpayer service..."

Biden and members of his administration have said Americans with income less than $400,000 would not be affected, but House Republicans warn that the House version of the bill noted that half (nearly 600,000) of the expected 1.2 million new audits would target average American households earning less than $75,000, Politico reported.