IRS head out. Acting IRS director Steven Miller is out at the agency, in the wake of furor over conservative groups receiving extra scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status. Making a statement on Wednesday evening, Obama said the actions at the IRS were inexcusable. Obama: “Americans are right to be angry about it, and I’m angry about it….[I] will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has.”
Document dump. Seeking to minimize the growing controversy over last year’s attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, the Obama administration released over 100 pages of emails “that show how Obama administration officials presented a scrubbed-down version of the attacks to the public,” NBC News reports, and shows how the White House, State Department and the CIA traded drafts of talking points, with initial drafts including references to “Islamic extremists” who may have participated in the attacks.
Holder vs. Issa. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday and was pressed on the ongoing Obama administration controversies, but the flashpoint came between Holder and the committee’s chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). As Issa pressed Holder over Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez, Holder fired back at Issa: “It is inappropriate and too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of Congress…It is unacceptable. It is shameful.” Holder also reiterated he “was not involved in the Justice Department’s decision to seize two months of phone records from Associated Press journalists as a part of a leak probe.”
Texas tornadoes. At least six people are dead after tornadoes ripped through North Texas Wednesday night, and 14 people are still unaccounted for. About 100 people have been reported injured and at least 250 left homeless from the devastation. A 9 a.m. press conference has been scheduled with an update from officials, and will be carried live on The Daily Rundown.
Jessica Taylor