Trump’s IRS nominee awaits confirmation as agency churns through 4 acting leaders this year
CNN
Since President Donald Trump took office, the Internal Revenue Service has churned through four acting leaders and spiraled into turmoil, while the president’s pick for full-time commissioner waits for a Senate confirmation hearing.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the Internal Revenue Service has churned through four acting leaders and spiraled into turmoil, while the president’s pick for full-time commissioner waits for a Senate confirmation hearing. Trump announced in early December that he was nominating Republican former Rep. Billy Long to be the next IRS commissioner. The president and his supporters believe Long, who previously sponsored bills to abolish the IRS, can make good use of his strong relationships on Capitol Hill as a Trump ally. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have signaled their opposition by raising questions about Long’s past work promoting a fraud-plagued tax credit, and ethics experts have criticized a flurry of donations he recently received from interests with business before the IRS. Long’s confirmation hearing is expected to happen later this month. But multiple current and former IRS officials, and others in the tax space who regularly deal with the agency, are concerned the slow pace of Long’s confirmation process has left the IRS adrift. “It’s a pivotal moment for the agency. Right now, it’s rudderless,” said Kathy Pakenham, a top tax attorney at Vinson & Elkins who represents clients before the IRS. “For someone new coming in to lead that organization, it’s a five-alarm fire. The people sitting across the table from me are clearly in fear for their jobs, and they don’t know what the future holds.” The Republican-run Senate has not moved quickly to confirm Long, as it has for some of Trump’s other picks, including some controversial Cabinet members. But there’s no indication that the Missouri Republican’s nomination is in peril, and the Treasury Department says it remains a key goal for the administration.
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