What am I bid for the Internal Revenue Service top job?
The IRS Commissioner seat isn’t actually on the auction block, but incoming president Donald J. Trump wants to oust the tax agency’s current leader and install an auctioneer.
Billy Long, who also served from 2011 to 2023 as a Republican U.S. Representative for Missouri’s 7th district, never served on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee during his years in Congress.
Long’s only apparent private sector tax background, per his X (formerly Twitter) @auctnr1 account biography, is as Certified Tax & Business Advisor in connection with the troubled COVID-era Employee Retention Credit (ERC). There he tells followers, “DM [direct message] me to save 40% on your taxes. We have a new traunch of tax credits just out!”
He also claims to have coined the phrase Trump Train, which has become a pervasive social media meme,
Looking to oust Werfel: Trump’s move comes even though the IRS commissioner typically serves a five-year statutory term, regardless of any change-over in presidential administrations.
Current IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023, and his term does not expire until 2027. Werfel said in a recent interview with Tax Notes that he intended to serve his full five years. One of his key goals is modernization of the agency.
However, Internal Revenue Code Section 7803 says that the IRS commissioner “may be removed at the will of the president.”
That’s also the will of many Republicans on Capitol Hill. They do not like the added money the IRS received as part of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, although they were able to claw some of it back. The GOP also is opposed to many of Werfel’s changes at the agency, including a refocusing of audit resources on high-earning taxpayers and creation of Direct File.
So, like everything else about Trump, in and out of office, this will be interesting.
Long pros and cons: “Billy is an extremely hard worker, and respected by all, especially by those who know him in Congress. Taxpayers and the wonderful employees of the IRS will love having Billy at the helm. He is the consummate ‘people person,’ well respected on both sides of the aisle,” said Trump in proposing the IRS leadership change on his Truth Social account.
That characterization is, again like everything Trump, up for debate. And the many takes on the proposed IRS commissioner change is the topic of today’s multiple Saturday Shout Out posts and articles.
Trump to Nominate Former Rep. Billy Long as IRS Commissioner writes Richard Rubin in the Wall Street Journal.
He Promised Huge Tax Refunds. Now Trump Wants Him to Lead the I.R.S. writes Andrew Duehren in the New York Times.
Trump picks former Rep. Billy Long for IRS commissioner writes Benjamin Guggenheim in Politico.
Ex-Missouri lawmaker Billy Long is Trump’s pick for IRS commissioner notes Roll Call.
What to know about Billy Long, the ex-congressman and auctioneer Trump wants to head the IRS writes Aimee Picchi in CBS News’ MoneyWatch.
Trump’s pick for IRS commissioner, former congressman Billy Long, receives mixed response from Washington, tax community writes Kate Dore for CNBC.
Trump names his own pick for IRS commissioner, breaking from tradition write Julie Zauzmer Weil and Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post.
Donald Trump picks Missouri’s Billy Long to lead the IRS; Oregon’s senior U.S. senator, Ron Wyden, blasted the appointment writes Jason Hancock in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Wyden, Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee until the next Congress convenes, issued his own statement, saying in part that Long’s nomination “ought to set off alarm bells. … If Trump fires Mr. Werfel, it won’t be to improve on his work; it’ll be to install somebody Trump can control as he meddles with the IRS.”
Trump signals new direction for IRS as he announces atypical plan to replace its leadership writes Natalie Alms in Government Executive.
Trump Pick to Lead IRS Signals 'Open Season for Tax Cheats' writes Julia Conley for CommonDreams.org.
That sentiment is echoed by the Americans for Tax Fairness press release Trump’s IRS Pick Signals Green Light for Tax Cheats.
The conservative National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), however, has higher hopes Long. NTUF’s Debbie Jennings and Joe Bishop-Henchman elaborate in their article Ten Crucial Reforms the Next Administration Should Demand of the IRS Commissioner.
I hope this provides some insight into the possible next IRS commissioner. While we wait to see what happens with Long’s nomination, you also might find the following IRS posts of interest:
- IRS funding again leads IRSAC's annual report
- TIGTA celebrating 25 years of keeping an eye on the IRS
- IRS touts enhanced tax options for businesses with online accounts
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