WASHINGTON (AP) — Can the Internal Revenue Service police President Barack Obama’s health care mandate while simultaneously collecting all the taxes for running the federal government?

The question is being renewed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision upholding most of the 2010 Affordable Care Act as a tax issue rather than one of interstate commerce.

Nearly 2½ years before taxpayers will have to start providing proof on their tax returns that they have health insurance, key Republicans suspect the agency already is diverting resources from collecting taxes to gear up for becoming the government’s health care cop.