Trump Picks Loyalist To Lead The IRS As GOP Eyes Tax Agency

Since leaving Washington, he has worked as a tax adviser and encouraged businesses to look into a pandemic-era employee retention tax credit.

The program has been subject to massive fraud, costing the government billions of dollars, and some lawmakers have tried to end it. The IRS temporarily paused it earlier this year in order to catch up on false claims.

Democrats were skeptical of the pick.

“There are a lot of reasons why former Congressman Billy Long is a bizarre choice for this role,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement to RollCall. “What’s most concerning is that Mr. Long left office and jumped into the scam-plagued industry involving the Employee Retention Tax Credit.”

The move effectively means Trump will fire the current IRS commissioner, Danny Werfel, who was appointed to a five-year term by President Joe Biden in 2022. He took over the agency shortly after Congress approved an $80 billion expansion in funding over the next decade, which experts say will help the government more accurately enforce tax laws and collect revenue.

Republicans scaled back that funding by $20 billion last year and are eyeing billions more, which official warn would limit the agency’s ability to audit wealth Americans and large corporations.

Werfel — who worked for both Democrats and Republicans — had said he intended to finish out his term, but the sitting president is able to appoint who they like as long as they are confirmed by the Senate.

“I have a vision of my last day on the job being Nov. 12, 2027,” Werfel said during a podcast appearance last month. “My frame of mind on the I.R.S. is that it’s nonpartisan, is that our priorities can and should shift with new Treasury leadership.”