Tea Party Groups Pushing Back Against New IRS Proposals

The IRS unveiled proposals relating to the regulation of tax-exempt groups in November

After getting off to a slow start, conservative tea party groups are pushing back on the Internal Revenue Service's new proposal to regulate tax-exempt groups.

It's the latest chapter of a saga over the targeting of conservative groups throughout the 2012 election that exploded over the summer of 2013. And it comes nearly a month and a half after the IRS first revealed its proposed rules in late November.

The IRS's Thanksgiving-week announcement of new rules to rein in tax-exempt groups that participate in political activities caught many by surprise — especially conservative groups.

Most of Washington left town for the holiday season as the clock ticked on the roughly 90-day window for public comment on the proposed rules.

"They seem hell bent to do whatever they're setting out to do because of the way they issued the rules and the fact that the comment period happens during the holiday season," said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks.