Problems with the I.R.S. could lead to tax penalties and revocation of tax-exempt status.
He was apparently alluding to the revocation of tax-exempt status to Emerge America, which trains Democratic female candidates.
Its first priority became the overhaul of the nonprofit database, resulting in the revocation of tax-exempt status for hundreds of thousands of charities.
The decision came in a lawsuit brought by Tax Analysts, the nonprofit publisher of Tax Notes magazine, which sought information on the reasons for denials and revocations of tax-exempt status.
The I.R.S. also looked at the Employment Policies Institute, a business-backed nonprofit that Mr. Berman helped create and that argues against a higher minimum wage, among other things, and found nothing that would warrant a revocation of its tax exemption.
Since the early 1990s, when the revenue service imposed severe penalties in several high-profile cases, including a two-year revocation of the tax exemption for Jerry Falwell's "Old Time Gospel Hour," most religious organizations and clergy members have been careful to keep within the I.R.S. limits.
Schumer says that he didn't call for Tea Party groups to be investigated, he called for the IRS to draw "a bright line" that determines the standard for "social welfare organizations" and when they start to do activities that should mandate the revocation of their tax-exempt status.
The Revenue Department acted to strip the exemptions following a ruling last year by the State Supreme Court upholding the revocation of the property tax exemption for Catholic-owned Provena Covenant Medical Center in downstate Urbana.
While Selig received occasional tongue lashings from committee members -- one threatened the revocation of a cherished tax break if baseball did not fix its problems -- he was also chided several times by Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota.
The hospital industry's push is at odds with the changes under way at the Department of Revenue, which is acting in the wake of the State Supreme Court ruling last year upholding the revocation of the property tax exemption for Catholic-owned Provena Covenant Medical Center in downstate Urbana, in Champaign County.
Marcus Owens, the former chief of the I.R.S. division in charge of tax exemptions, has recently filed a complaint with the I.R.S. charging ALEC with illegal lobbying and partisan violations that should lead to revocation of its tax exemption.
