WASHINGTON, D.C. – The IRS has awarded a no-bid contract to Equifax worth millions, and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says that it just doesn’t add up after the credit company was recently hacked, exposing millions to ID theft.
“The IRS award of a $7.25 million no-bid contract to Equifax after a hack of the data services company that exposed personal information of as many as 145 million Americans ‘just doesn’t add up,’ according to Sen. Chuck Grassley,” the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported today.
Grassley posted today on social media that “The IRS called the contract a ‘sole source order,’ meaning Equifax is the only company able to provide the service. It was awarded on the final day of the federal fiscal year to prevent a lapse in identity checks while the agency resolves a dispute over a separate contract. According to the contract, Equifax will verify taxpayer identity and assist in ongoing taxpayer verification and validations. Given Equifax’s recent track record, Grassley said he and other members of Congress are concerned.”
Taking to Twitter, Grassley said “Given recent Equifax breach the IRS needs 2make clear &demonstrate that taxpayer information is safe if doing biz w Equifax” (sic).
The Gazette further reports that:
The IRS called the contract a “sole source order,” meaning Equifax is the only company able to provide the service. It was awarded on the final day of the federal fiscal year to prevent a lapse in identity checks while the agency resolves a dispute over a separate contract. According to the contract, Equifax will verify taxpayer identity and assist in ongoing taxpayer verification and validations.
Given recent Equifax breach the IRS needs 2make clear &demonstrate that taxpayer information is safe if doing biz w Equifax
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 4, 2017
