By Gabriel T. Rubin

THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is embracing its role as a provider of government cash to low-income communities. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig this week said that the administration of several rounds of economic- impact payments during the pandemic led the agency to get in touch with groups of people who typically don't contact the IRS or file tax returns, providing the agency with a valuable test run ahead of the launch of the expanded child tax credit payments next month.

Social-benefit administration is typically the domain of the Social Security Administration and other agencies, and some tax and welfare experts have expressed concerns about the IRS's capacity to stand up a major new benefit program, especially with its long-term budget and staffing difficulties. But the administration of stimulus checks for the most part has gone smoothly, an encouraging sign for the tax agency's ability to efficiently deliver monthly payments to about 39 million families with children starting on July 15. Households will receive up to $250 a month per child between age 6 and 17 and up to $300 per child under age 6.

During the pandemic, the IRS rolled out new tools for millions of low-income individuals and families to claim their stimulus checks, like allowing them to file a free, basic online form to claim the benefit. For people without direct-deposit information, the IRS used paper checks and preloaded debit cards to distribute the funds. It plans to use similar tools that will launch soon to help people get the expanded CTC, and it has been performing outreach in affected communities to make sure prospective recipients have updated information.

Rettig has even belatedly embraced the popular slang term for the economic impact payments as he lauds their effects: "The stimmies have been fantastic for us in terms of getting into the communities."

PROGRESSIVE GROUP tests Sen. Joe Manchin's love of bipartisanship with a protest outside a West Virginia factory and a plea to support a bill led by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. Our Revolution, an offshoot of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, led a protest outside the Viatris pharmaceutical plant in Morgantown, W.Va., which the company will close next month and begin to lay off nearly 1,500 workers. Viatris has said it would retain a significant workforce in Morgantown, where it also has a research center.

The company's move hits close to home for Manchin: The plant was owned by Mylan, a company formerly run by Manchin's daughter until it merged last year with a spun-off Pfizer subsidiary. "I continue to engage in conversations with Viatris, the county, the Morgantown Area Partnership and the state to find a solution that protects every single job," Manchin told The Wall Street Journal. Manchin and Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito tried to add a domestic drug production amendment to the recently approved China competition legislation that might have kept the plant open, but it wasn't included in the final bill that passed the Senate.

Our Revolution wants Manchin to co-sponsor Warren and Rubio's Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act to conduct a study on foreign involvement in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, though the bill won't remedy the Morgantown situation, at least in the short term. The bill is supported by United Steelworkers International, which represents about half the employees at the Morgantown plant. The Biden administration outlined a plan on Tuesday aimed to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., including in pharmaceuticals.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY sets a new deadline for completing its new immigration-enforcement priorities, a process that has taken longer than the Biden administration initially expected. When they took office, Biden officials said they would complete a review of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities within 90 days. While some interim guidelines were instituted, the administration conceded in a court filing this week it missed its deadline for "issuance of superseding immigration enforcement priorities." The administration now says the new guidelines will come out in the beginning of July, but that expectation could change based on the needs of the agency and other contingencies.

RECOGNITION OF MOROCCO'S SOVEREIGNTY over Western Sahara hasn't been lifted by the Biden administration, despite bipartisan unease over the Trump administration's decision last December. Trump announced the recognition in return for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel. At a confirmation hearing for ambassadors to African nations, Republican Sen. Mike Rounds called Trump's move deeply troubling and pressed the ambassador-designate to Algeria to clarify President Biden's stance. Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he agreed with Rounds. When asked about Western Sahara on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said he "would certainly take issue with the characterization that there's been a continuity, including when it comes to our approach towards the region, from the last administration," and noted U.S. engagement with the U.N. on the conflict.

MINOR MEMOS: "Watch out for the cicadas, I just got one," Biden said as he left for his Europe trip... Sen. Chuck Grassley criticizes fellow Republicans for relying on paper copies of lengthy bills, noting that Democrats read legislation online and save trees...White House press secretary Jen Psaki mixes several metaphors while describing infrastructure talks, invoking a sausage-making process taking place on a train that's on several tracks.

Write to Gabriel T. Rubin at gabriel.rubin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-11-21 0544ET