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Rep. Jason Chaffetz is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, not the blackmail committee.

That is why it's unnerving to see the Utah congressman openly acknowledge the effort by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to punish the entire Internal Revenue Service — and by extension the entire country — because the head of the IRS won't quit.

Chaffetz' effort to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen traces its roots to the IRS flagging certain conservative non-profit groups for further scrutiny of their tax filings, which came to light in 2013. The IRS later acknowledged it shouldn't have been basing decisions on things like whether the groups had words like "tea party" and "patriot" in their names, and it claims the problem has been fixed.

Chaffetz and others want Koskinen's head because they say he lied to Chaffetz' committee and failed to provide House investigators with subpoenaed documents. The commitee has already voted to censure Koskinen, which has limited effect, and Chaffetz is pursuing impeachment charges against him.

But the ranking Democrat on Chaffetz' committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, told Politico in June, "There was no obstruction of justice — simply didn't happen."

Impeachment of a federal agency head is rare to say the least, so using that process to force Koskinen out is iffy. That has House Republicans trying to force him out by starving his agency, something Chaffetz willingly admits:

"We've tried to use the power of the purse to effect change. The IRS commissioner has elected to take it out on the rank and file, rather than doing the honorable thing and leaving office himself. … We're not going to have productive interactions with the IRS as long as he's the commissioner. ... I do think it's affecting tens of thousands of workers in a very negative way. That's his choice, not mine."

No, that is the choice of the congressman and his colleagues. The IRS commissioner was appointed by the president confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate in 2013. That he continues to serve is not just "his choice." He is carrying out the will of the president with the full consent of the U.S. Senate.

Those tens of thousands of workers negatively affected, including many Utahns at the IRS center in Ogden? That's on you, Rep. Chaffetz.