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Billy, we hardly knew ya.
Billy Long has been ousted as IRS commissioner after just 53 days on the job, multiple news outlets reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting commissioner until Long’s replacement is named.
Long was the sixth person to head the IRS this year. His departure comes amid ongoing tensions between the agency and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On Thursday, August 7, the Washington Post reported, DHS requested that the IRS cross-check the addresses of 40,000 undocumented immigrants. The next day, the IRS said that it was only able to verify around 3% of the addresses, and refused to provide additional information on the taxpayers, such as whether they’d applied for the earned income tax credit, citing privacy concerns.
Long had stated that the IRS would not release data that fell “outside of the confines of the IRS’s agreement with DHS,” sources told the Washington Post. In April the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, signed an agreement with DHS allowing it access to confidential taxpayer data for undocumented immigrants who it said were “already facing deportation orders and are under federal criminal investigation,” CNN reported.
The IRS has long encouraged undocumented immigrants to file their taxes, assuring them that their data won’t be used against them. Former IRS commissioner Lawrence Gibbs called keeping that data private a “bedrock belief” at the agency. Interim IRS head Melanie Krause resigned earlier this year over issues related to the data-sharing agreement with DHS.
Long, the short-timer: It’s not clear that Long was ousted due, or solely due, to blocking the DHS from accessing taxpayer data. He was a, let’s say, controversial pick to head the agency from the start: an auctioneer and former Republican representative from Missouri whose tax experience consisted of a three-day course. His brief tenure with the IRS was marked by gaffes such as stating that the agency would abolish Direct File, an action the Treasury Department had not authorized. During a tax conference, he mentioned that he wanted next year’s tax season to start around President’s Day, though the IRS had not yet named the start date for filing season, forcing the agency to publish a clarification.
During Long’s tenure, the IRS also placed two senior officials, including the head of its large business unit, on administrative leave pending an investigation into their “conduct against Republicans,” Bloomberg Tax reported. (In a move Alanis Morissette would appreciate, one of the officials was the acting director of the Office of Professional Responsibility.)
But he also took steps to improve morale at the embattled agency, according to the New York Times, visiting staff at offices and allowing them to leave early on Fridays.
Long has now been banished to Ultima Thule nominated to serve as ambassador to Iceland.