Today, members of the House Oversight and Ways & Means Committees wrote a letter calling on the IRS to investigate the tax-exempt status of the NRA and the NRA Foundation due to “egregious self-dealing” and “a disturbing pattern of abusing their not-for profit status.” The letter, which is led by Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and signed by 32 other Committee members, follows lawsuits filed against the NRA by the New York and DC attorneys general last month. 

Everytown first filed a complaint calling for the IRS to investigate the NRA’s tax exempt status in 2019, then re-upped that call earlier this year.

This letter, first reported by Mother Jones, asserts that, “Tax-exempt organizations must adhere to strict, specific requirements to retain their exemption from federal tax law – and no tax-exempt organization is above the law.” In addition to Representatives Schneider and Gomez, it is signed by Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Gerald Connelly (D-VA), Jim Cooper (D-TN), Danny Davis (D-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), John Larson (D-CT), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Linda Sanchez (D-TX), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Mike Thompson (D-CA). The letter adds that, “[o]ur request for an IRS review is irrespective of any policy differences we may have with the NRA; our request is based upon the foundational principle that tax-exempt organizations must play by the rules in order to enjoy their privileged status.”