On Thursday, the Senate confirmed former GOP Rep. Billy Lengthy of Missouri to steer the Inner Income Service, putting in a loyal ally of President Donald Trump atop the very company he as soon as tried to eliminate.
Lengthy, a former auctioneer, now takes the reins of a tax company in flux. The IRS grew considerably throughout President Joe Biden’s tenure however has since shed 6,000 staff as a part of Trump’s sweeping downsizing of the federal authorities. It’s additionally been rocked by controversy, lawsuits, and a revolving door of management.
Lengthy is now the sixth particular person to go the IRS this yr after a sequence of performing commissioners give up or have been eliminated.
The Senate confirmed him on a 53-44 vote, with all current Democrats opposing his nomination. GOP Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho referred to as Lengthy “uniquely suited” for the job—a beneficiant descriptor provided that Lengthy has no background in tax administration and spent his congressional profession pushing laws to abolish the IRS totally.
Including to the controversy, since leaving Congress in 2023, Lengthy has suggested enterprise homeowners on the best way to declare tax breaks—most notably the worker retention tax credit score, a pandemic-era program that the IRS has since flagged as a magnet for fraud and faulty claims. Lengthy denies wrongdoing, however the scrutiny hasn’t light.
And after Trump tapped him for the position in December, executives tied to an organization selling tribal tax credit poured cash into Lengthy’s long-dormant marketing campaign account, serving to him erase $130,000 in private marketing campaign debt.
“After leaving Congress, Mr. Long lined his pockets in the tax scam industry, where he peddled fake tax credits and took advantage of small businesses. The American people don’t want the IRS to be run by a tax cheat,” Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer mentioned on Wednesday.
Lengthy is taking up the IRS at a very risky time. Since Trump was inaugurated, the company has burned by way of 5 completely different commissioners, together with performing heads Michael Faulkender, Melanie Krause, Douglas O’Donnell, and Gary Shapley. Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel resigned on Day 1 of Trump’s second time period.
In the meantime, the company’s workforce is cratering. In April, The Related Press reported that the IRS was planning to chop as much as 20,000 jobs—almost one-quarter of its employees. An IRS spokesperson confirmed Thursday that about 20,000 have already left, which has successfully worn out any positive factors made in the course of the Biden administration.
Now, Lengthy inherits an IRS gutted of experience and belief whereas dealing with authorized warmth. Unions and advocacy teams have sued over the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity’s mishandling of delicate taxpayer information.
The place Lengthy takes the company from right here is anybody’s guess. When requested throughout his affirmation listening to whether or not he’d push again in opposition to political interference from Trump, Lengthy solely vaguely mentioned that he would “follow the law.”
That reply is difficult to sq. with current historical past, as a lot of Trump’s appointees haven’t even pretended to attract such strains. And Lengthy now finds himself in control of implementing the tax provisions of Trump’s proposed “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” ought to Congress move it.
Then there’s tax season. This yr was a multitude, due to workforce attrition and instability on the high. Based on a Could report from the Treasury Inspector Normal for Tax Administration, the IRS misplaced almost one-third of its income brokers, who conduct audits, as of March.
And extra ache could also be coming. Trump’s fiscal 2026 finances request requires a 37% reduce to IRS funding, together with steep reductions in staffing and know-how.
All of it raises the identical query that’s dogging a lot of Trump’s second-term agenda: Is the aim to manipulate or to intestine?
We’ve seen this film earlier than. Training Secretary Linda McMahon has overtly mentioned that her mission is to remove her division by handing its duties to the states.
And now the IRS is within the palms of a person who spent years making an attempt to close it down.
