On
the
first
day
of
President
Donald
Trump’s
second
term,
then
IRS
Commissioner
Danny
Werfel
resigned.
IRS
commissioners
by
law
serve
five-year
terms
although
customarily
they
step
down
sometime
during
their
fourth
year.
It
is
also
common
for
IRS
commissioners
to
stay
on
when
a
new
president
takes
office.
So
Werfel’s
resignation
is
unusual.
President
Trump’s
pick
to
replace
Werfel
is
Billy
Long,
a
former
congressman
from
Missouri.
But
he
has
not
yet
received
Senate
confirmation
nor
is
there
a
confirmation
hearing
scheduled.
Until
then,
an
acting
IRS
commissioner
is
selected.
But
since
Werfel’s
resignation,
there
have
been
four
acting
commissioners
in
three
months.
The
first
was
Douglas
O’Donnell,
a
40-year
IRS
veteran.
He
previously
served
as
acting
commissioner
from
November
2022
until
March
2023,
filling
in
after
former
Commissioner
Charles
Rettig
stepped
down
until
Werfel’s
confirmation.
During
his
short
tenure,
the
IRS
laid
off
thousands
of
workers,
mostly
new
hires.
Furthermore,
he
had
to
deal
with
the
Department
of
Government
Efficiency’s
(DOGE)
demands
to
obtain
access
to
IRS
data
systems
that
may
include
sensitive
taxpayer
information.
O’Donnell
retired
from
the
IRS
on
February
28,
2025.
Replacing
O’Donnell
was
Melanie
Krause
who
was
the
IRS’s
Chief
Operating
Officer.
Krause
served
as
acting
commissioner
until
April
8,
2025.
Krause
resigned
shortly
after
the
IRS
reached
an
agreement
with
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security
where
the
IRS
would
share
taxpayer
data
with
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement.
It
is
believed
that
the
information
would
be
used
to
find
people
for
deportation
purposes.
Krause’s
decision
to
resign
was
also
influenced
by
the
future
direction
of
the
agency
in
addition
to
the
resignation
of
other
senior
officials
at
the
IRS.
Gary
Shapley
replaced
O’Donnell
as
acting
commissioner
on
April
16,
2025.
Shapley
spent
most
of
his
career
working
at
the
IRS’s
criminal
investigation
division.
But
he
was
better
known
for
testifying
before
Congress
about
the
Hunter
Biden
tax
investigation.
His
appointment
was
endorsed
by
Elon
Musk.
But
a
few
days
later,
his
appointment
was
rescinded
after
Treasury
Secretary
Scott
Bessent
complained
that
Shapley’s
appointment
was
made
without
his
knowledge.
But
despite
his
removal,
Shapley
will
remain
as
a
senior
advisor.
Lastly,
Shapley
was
replaced
by
Deputy
Treasury
Secretary
Michael
Faulkender
who
is
the
current
acting
commissioner.
Faulkender
was
Bessent’s
choice
for
the
role.
During
Trump’s
first
term,
he
appointed
Faulkender
to
be
the
Assistant
Secretary
of
the
Treasury
for
Economic
Policy.
The
IRS
commissioner
is
a
senior
management
position,
so
he
or
she
will
rarely
be
in
contact
with
an
average
IRS
employee.
But
every
IRS
employee
will
wonder
whether
the
new
commissioner
will
support
President
Trump
and
DOGE’s
efforts
to
cut
IRS
staff
numbers.
Or
will
he
or
she
try
to
convince
the
president
to
reconsider
his
strategy?
And
how
is
the
public
reacting
to
this?
Half
of
the
population
sees
this
as
an
example
of
Trump’s
incompetence
or
as
a
sign
that
the
experienced
IRS
leadership
has
no
confidence
in
the
direction
the
agency
is
going.
Some
taxpayers
may
wonder
whether
they
can
be
more
aggressive
and
creative
when
preparing
their
tax
returns.
Every
tax
professional
worth
their
salt
will
tell
opportunistic
taxpayers
not
to
falsify
their
tax
returns
and
that
the
IRS
can
be
surprisingly
resourceful.
If
their
returns
are
selected
for
audit,
the
lack
of
staff
can
likely
prolong
their
audit
or
result
in
getting
an
auditor
who
is
overworked.
So
how
long
will
Faulkender
last?
He
is
not
part
of
the
old
guard,
has
worked
with
Trump
before,
and
has
the
Treasury
Secretary’s
blessing.
So
it
is
probable
that
he
will
remain
in
the
position
until
a
permanent
commissioner
is
selected.
The
new
acting
commissioner
will
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do.
He
or
she
will
oversee
one
of
the
IRS’s
largest
reductions
in
force
in
the
agency’s
history
and
will
have
to
decide
where
to
allocate
funding
and
resources.
Also,
the
commissioner
may
be
involved
in
controversial
matters.
For
example,
Trump
recently
suggested
that
the
IRS
revoke
Harvard
University’s
tax-exempt
status
because
he
thinks
the
university
is
not
doing
enough
to
address
campus
antisemitism.
The
commissioner
will
have
to
assure
the
public
that
the
IRS
is
fair
and
will
not
be
politically
weaponized,
despite
the
president’s
occasional
social
media
posts
that
suggest
otherwise.
Steven
Chung
is
a
tax
attorney
in
Los
Angeles,
California.
He
helps
people
with
basic
tax
planning
and
resolve
tax
disputes.
He
is
also
sympathetic
to
people
with
large
student
loans.
He
can
be
reached
via
email
at
[email protected].
Or
you
can
connect
with
him
on
Twitter
(@stevenchung)
and
connect
with
him
on LinkedIn.