WASHINGTON – First she refused to testify. Now Lois Lerner, the IRS official at the center of the tax agency scandal, is refusing to resign, according to a top Republican senator.

Sources confirmed to Fox News earlier Thursday that Lerner, the head of the IRS division that oversaw the unit targeting conservative groups, had been placed on administrative leave, with pay.

But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, claimed she was only put in that status after refusing to step down.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

The IRS official who refused to testify at a House hearing Wednesday has become a key focus of the congressional investigations into the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups. 

Now under the protection of her lawyers and the Fifth Amendment, Lois Lerner is facing a maelstrom of controversy. 

Members of Congress are calling her evasive, and question why she didn't reveal the program sooner -- plus her history at the Federal Elections Commission is coming under scrutiny. 

Lerner touched off the public controversy when, at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month, she apologized for the IRS' practice of targeting conservative organizations for additional scrutiny.

WASHINGTON –  Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS division that singled out conservative groups, is expected to invoke the Fifth Amendment Wednesday when she appears before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Fox News has learned.

That means Lerner, head of the exempt organizations division, probably won’t answer any questions on what she knew about IRS agents going after Tea Party-related groups. That also means she probably won’t say why she sat on the information for so long before it became public.

WASHINGTON –  Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS division that singled out conservative groups, is expected to invoke the Fifth Amendment Wednesday when she appears before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Fox News has learned.

That means Lerner, head of the exempt organizations division, probably won’t answer any questions on what she knew about IRS agents going after Tea Party-related groups. That also means she probably won’t say why she sat on the information for so long before it became public.